FDA vs. USDA: Cloned Foods OK, No, Cloned Foods Need Selling Moratorium

When writing about bureaucracy, the adverb "soon" usually means "lumbering along in a period of several months to a year." Imagine our surprise when the FDA, despite strong resistance from many consumer groups, today announced its blessing on food products made from cloned animals.

The official FDA news release is contained at the bottom of this article. But before you read that, time to check out the rumble in the political jungle: the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has asked producers to observe an "indefinite" moratorium on selling such products.

The USDA, of course, are the folks who provide those nifty labels for food products, such as meat. The USDA says that the issue of cloned food products is an "emotional" one and will take years of acceptance.

USDA issuing statements on the "emotional" aspects of our legislation? Now, that's a mysterious comment from a federal agency, as federal agencies aren't known for worrying over "emotional" issues when issuing edicts.