Would you order jambon clonéin a French restaurant How about a cloneburger. In the past week, government scientists in Europe and the United States took a big step toward allowing cloned meat and milk on the dinner table. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a report declaring that cloned livestock was safe to eat, and the European Food Safety Authority says meat and milk of cloned animals is nothing out of the ordinary.
The reports caused indigestion on two continents. Europeans harbor a deep revulsion toward any funny business with their food. They've demanded (and gotten) legislation requiring labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods and have steadfastly resisted importing GM crops from the United States, Brazil and elsewhere. Although Americans have been much less bothered about biotechnology and food—they couldn't seem to care less about eating GM crops—it's safe to say that few people are thrilled by the prospect of putting a fork into a cloned porterhouse. Watchdog groups condemned the findings, calling for mandatory labeling. Given cloning's lack of gustatory appeal, a label might be all that's needed to kill the practice.
你會(huì)在法國(guó)餐館里點(diǎn)克隆火腿嗎?會(huì)點(diǎn)一份克隆漢堡嗎?上星期,歐洲和美國(guó)的政府科學(xué)家向著讓克隆肉和克隆奶上餐桌邁出了一大步。美國(guó)食品藥品管理局發(fā)表了一份報(bào)告,宣布食用克隆的牲畜是安全的。歐洲食品安全局說,克隆動(dòng)物的肉和奶沒有任何異常。
這種報(bào)告在兩個(gè)大陸引起了消化不良。歐洲人對(duì)拿他們的食品開玩笑深惡痛絕。 他們已經(jīng)要求(并已經(jīng)得到)立法,要求在轉(zhuǎn)基因食品上貼標(biāo)簽,并且堅(jiān)決抵制從美國(guó)、巴西和其它地方進(jìn)口轉(zhuǎn)基因農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。盡管美國(guó)人對(duì)于生物技術(shù)和食品的擔(dān)心沒那么多,但是,他們對(duì)食用轉(zhuǎn)基因農(nóng)產(chǎn)品的關(guān)注似乎一點(diǎn)也不少。可以有把握地說,沒有什么人會(huì)對(duì)食用克隆牛排膽戰(zhàn)心驚。督察組織譴責(zé)這些發(fā)現(xiàn),呼吁強(qiáng)制性貼標(biāo)簽。如果人們對(duì)克隆食品缺少胃口,一張標(biāo)簽可能足以將它扼殺。