Why not.

Well, I don't eat meat and don't drink milk so I guess I'm really not qualified to answer this question. If I DID I would want to be 100% sure that there would be no wacky side effects or something...I really don't know that much about cloning and how common it is but I don't understand why mass cloning of cows (or whatever) in order to produce more meat/milk would really be a good thing. Wouldn't that hurt the "real" farmers who raise "real" non-cloned animals??

Why do we need to clone cows?

I'm with you bizzy.

i dont think its about drinking the milk, i just dont approve of cloning cows!!! or anything for that matter. can we stop trying to "play god"? Humans suck.

yeah this is nasty, thankful right now that i actually prefer soy and rice milk.

No! No! No! The FDA has also approved drugs that latter lead to death and miscarriages, just to name a couple!

ur_momm, I totally agree with you-- we humans should not be trying to clone anything. Why can't we stop trying to "fix" things to please us and expecting instant gratification?? That has a huge ick factor for me, plus no one knows how it will affect people many years from now. I don't trust the FDA to say that cloned meat or milk is safe-- and once it gets an inch, it'll take a mile. Soon the cloned meat packages will end up looking just like the uncloned meat packages and consumers won't be able to tell the difference because (according to the FDA) labeling them as such will cause bias. And with the health and obesity concerns facing Americans now, we should be focusing on eating the most natural, pesticide-free, pure products and not going completely backwards.

I do not want to eat meat or drink milk from cloned animals. Period.

I don't think I would...it seems too un-natural for my liking!

I can see the god complex point about cloning animals, but the milk and meat really should pose no risk for us! There are no live cells in pasteurized milk the the risk is nil.

I would be more worried about antibiotics and hormones in all cows milk! They have used genetically engineered hormones in cows for years and poeple are drinking that!

Basically, if you go organic you can eliminate both these worries. It is expensive, but I am sure in a few years there will be more affordable choices for the public.

I'm not pro or con-cloning but HUMANS SUCK. What's that all about?

Considering I don't consume animal products, I chose to answer "other." If you do eat animal products, I don't understand what the problem would be. I guess if it squicks you out... but I don't think I would have much of a problem with it (I'd be more worried about the hormones and antibiotics the animals are pumped up with).

On the other hand, if it can't even be deemed organic... that's probably telling you something.

The possible repercussions years down the road bother me.

We don't eat a lot of beef now and will eat close to none or only organic in the future. I have been buying milk from a local farm.

I probably wouldn't know either way if I tasted them both so I don't care. I think cloning is neat.

The idea skeeves me out. Plus, I have no idea what the possible problems could be, so I'd rather not play guinea pig and find out. We buy all organic milk and meat, so hopefully it won't be an issue for us...?

It just sounds weird to me. I don't know...

Well heck, the meat and dairy industry can't get much grosser than it is right now. I mean, cows with festering wounds, standing in their own waste getting their faces skinned off while still conscious... chickens being so overcrowded in cages that their wings break and their feet are malformed... hogs dying en-route to the farm/slaughterhouse because they aren't given food or water for days on end... hogs having meat hooks shoved into their butts/cheeks/ears to drag them to crates when they can't walk because their legs are broken.
Seriously, how are you all going to complain about eating cloned animals?? You're already eating pain, terror, rage, and helplessness. Grow up, all of you.

NO!!!!

I only buy organic milk and I very rarely eat red meat...when I do, I certainly do not want it to come from a cloned cow.

No way. I don't want cloned meat. I don't want cloned anything. Even if it does taste the same.

I agree with taratootie - there's no obvious reason that cloned cow products would be any different or worse for you.

I'm not worried about the meat and milk from cloned animals. I'm more concerned with potential effects on the future of agriculture, things like genetic diversity, and unforeseen vulnerabilities to disease (of the animals themselves), etc.

As far as side effects on us from the dairy (as we don't really buy meat at all in this house) -- I don't see how.

this horrifies me - if this happens in Australia, I will definitely need to know that I'm buying, drinking and eating "clone free" - I'm not sure if I could even feel comfortable eating out anymore without knowing this!

I was a vegan as a child and it seems that the way things are going ... I might have to go back to being vegan!!

I'm not sure about cloning in terms of what it does to the meat and milk. I personally think all non-organic meat products are very dangerous and full of hormones. My personal belief is that these products negatively affect hormone levels especially in women and young girls, and I STRONGLY advocate that moms with baby girls do not EVER give cows milk that is not organic. Having said THAT, I think that the FDA approves all sorts of crap that we eat. It's a govt. agency and therefor susceptible and subject to lobbies and pressures and so forth. The example I gave the other day to a friend who asked about why the govt. doesn't protect us like it should is... if you are the congressman from Idaho and you found out that pesticides in the soil/ used on the product were not TERRIBLE but hot good for people, broke down the immune system and affected overall health, maybe even on a small level, in the long term, would you come out and say so?? Or would you fight like hell to suppress such information so that your state economy doesn't get flushed down the toilet? THAT is the problem with government, at bottom most of our representatives are there to advocate for their states at best, and at worst are only out for their own gain. So the moral of the story is, don't trust anything, research for yourself.

Foxie, right on. That is why if people eat meat/ dairy they should really focus on local free range organic, rather than the Perdue-ified mass market meat industry. I know you were probably going for, it's better not to eat meat at all, but we are omniverous creatures and it's not realistic to think that some day no one will eat meat. I was a vegetarian for ten years. Now I focus on food that is at least free of unnecessary cruelty.

I am totally against cloning animals. And, then to feed them to humans without telling us, that's an outrage. Let people decide for themselves if they wanna consume cloned animal products. I, for one, do not. Since they have plans to not label the items as being cloned, I will be switching to all natural milk very soon and stop eating beef altogether. I mean, with the price of milk, you might as well buy the all natural brand. Yay for no hormones and antibiotics in my food, or well, in my milk atleast!

P.S. It's illegal to sell "raw milk" in most places. However, I read that when you heat milk to a certain temperature (to pasturize it) that a natural chemical in the milk turns into a carcinogen, which causes cancer. Yum, cancer!

I would never buy milk that I knew was cloned. That's just not natural to me.

We only drink organic milk, so this is a definite no.

It's just so ridiculous that so many people are outraged about cloning when no one batts an eyelash at the blatant, outright, unpatrolled torture of these creatures. You all sure have your priorities straight!
@CJane, I'm glad you're trying to do your part, at least. Although, I must say I disagree. I think someday far enough in future, factory farming will be a mortifying mistake in our past, just as slavery is now.

I think it's disgusting. We had a discussion about this during one of my clubs and even though the FDA has approved it, we don't know the long term effects. Cloning is not apart of nature, we should not be eating cloned food or even cloning living organisms in general.

I don't really care about the ethics of cloning, but it is a bit creepy. But I'm not the best one to vote here, since I find regular milk, eggs, meat creepy. Cloning would only add to the creep factor, but I avoid that stuff anyway.

I answered other- I would have answered No I don't care however the FDA isn't the most trustworthy of agencies. If JAMA or AMA or WHO or other organizations say its safe than I'm cool with it. Shoot identical twins are clones.

yes ew its kind of gross. right now i wont buy milk or eggs with hormones. some doctors think this is why cancer is so high in the U.S. and the FDA okays this too

YumSugar you sure opened a can of worms with this one. I think I'll go fry me up a steak.

Thanks Biochemlovely!

And Mayara, you make a very good point. I do believe that genetic diversity is important (for the reasons you listed)! There is def more to it than simply saftey to the consumer!

I just think its silly that people are all "Ewww, cloned animals arent natural" but are okay with the RIDICULOUS amounts of artificial and genetically modified treatments cows are given daily (ie antibiotics and rBGH)... and this actually does affect the meat and milk!

Well, I feel like a tall glass now! Later gals.

I'm not really sure...I don't think we'll know until people either do or don't have reactions to the cloned animals...unfortunately. So...buy organic if you don't wanna be a guinea pig!!

Ditto wackdoodle. The FDA is NOT looking out for us.

i'm not sure how i feel about it. i think that ultimately it's a bad idea since cloning is so new - no one really knows what the long term effects will be. it's not a good idea to mess with nature and that's what scientists are doing.

thankfully i'm a vegetarian so the meat thing doesn't bug me - and i can't drink milk - so that's ok too. but for most people - i wouldn't want to go that route i think

I think that if you want to then eat it. if not than don't. the cloning companies are putting that on the labels. If they don't sell than they will take them off the shelves. just do what you want. for me...im still not sure what i would do but im not passionate either way.

and P.S. im against cloning, but im also against eating animals, so maybe that fits right in? and yeah i still think humans suck, the world is falling apart, and people are wasting their time cloning cows to make more money in the meat or dairy industry? why dont we concentrate all that energy into helping people who are starving - homeless - maybe fight global warming? do we really need to clone? or are we only doing it because we can? I havent done any research on cloning so im no expert, if they are trying to somehow save lives, thats one thing but i highly doubt cloning cows is helping the world... anyways, just reason why humans suck

I agree with all of the posters who point out that the larger problem at hand is the institution of factory farming. But, I digress. I'd never eat cloned meat not so much because of the fact that it's cloned, but because of the principle. If we're really at the point where we refuse to pay more for humanely treated animals to the point that we're CLONING ANIMALS, we need to reassess our culture here.

Seems ok to me... but Iguess I don't know enough about the pros and cons to make an informed decision.

If animals are being cloned, I would seriously consider becoming vegan if I coulnt afford organic! First off, we already inject these animals with antibiotics and mass produce them and feed them crap, and now we need to clone them?? i smell lobbyists and interest groups!

NO WAY!!
I don't even buy organic products so....
I just want to eat some natural things from a place I know and with no drugs or anything on it!

I know one bull producer that cloned his top bull, as he couldn't keep up with the demand of straws. So he thought that if he cloned the bull, he would be able to sell more straws of semen.

Or I know of another bull producer who cloned his top AI sire since he went sterile and couldn't produce semen.

I'm not saying cloning is right, but the reason why they are cloning isn't all for the mass production of milk and meat, there is another market of semen for those that AI their cattle. There's also the club calf market, where the producer produces cattle for shows. Then there is the bull producer, they raise bulls for other cattlemen, sure they pick the top 10% of there calf herd for replacement sires, but a bull with a good EPD will bring anywheres from $50,000. to $5,000. Your club calves will bring anywheres from $80,000. to $5000. I've seen club calf bulls bring anywheres from $250,000 to $150,000. And I've seen herd bulls bring around that much too. The little guys that are producing meat, they usually make a mere $800. on their market cattle.

I don't have a problem with it, but I don't really understand WHY they'd be doing this. It seems to me that cloning cows would be a very costly process.

what the world is wrong with these people ? i would never drink or eat anything that is cloned

I'll deff become vegan. I do not condone the cloning of animals. Just because we have become advanced enough to do things, does not mean we should or its ok to do them! BLAH!

I agree with Nitrobezene - Cloning IS neat!!

The meat or milk from a cloned animal will be exactly the same as the original animal.
I bet no one would even be able to tell the difference.

And cloning could save all of the world's endangered species too!

I'm still on the fence when it comes to human cloning though...
Ask me again when I'm old.