California Legislature Passes Country’s First-Ever Law Requiring that Cloned Food be Labeled!

Tell the Governor to sign the bill!

The California legislature has passed the country’s first ever law requiring labels on meat or dairy products produced from animal clones or their offspring.

The bill, SB 63, was introduced by California State Senator Carole Migden, and requires clear, prominent labeling to protect consumer choice.  SB 63 passed on September 12th.  It now goes to Governor Schwarzenegger who has until October 15 to sign or veto the bill.

California’s labeling law will be a critical step for protecting California consumers from the risks of untested cloned foods. Many Americans want safe, natural foods, but unlabeled food from clones threatens to deny us this choice.  Your letters and phone calls were a big part of getting this important bill passed, and together we can make sure it becomes law. Urge the Governor to sign this bill and protect our right to know what’s in our food!

The Governor requires citizens to use his web form to submit comments, which does not work with our online action system. To send your comment to the Governor, follow these steps:

Step 1: Copy any of the following sample text to paste into the comment box on the Governor's website, or be prepared to write your own:

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

I am writing to urge you to sign S.B. 63 into law, a bill by Senator Migden to label any foods from animal clones or their offspring in the event FDA approves such products for sale.

Cloning carries unknown food safety risks, increases animal cruelty, and threatens the image of California dairy and meat products. Many Americans object to animal cloning on moral or ethical grounds, and there is no need for cloned foods.

Studies have shown the American public actively opposes cloning. Gallup Polls report more than 65 percent of Americans think it is immoral to clone animals and the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that a similar percentage say that, despite FDA approval, they would not buy cloned milk. In fact, FDA received over 150,000 comments opposing its proposal to introduce cloned animals unlabeled into the food supply. Californians deserve to decide for themselves whether or not to purchase such food, even if the FDA deems it "safe," yet FDA has failed to require labeling.

Given the many concerns and uncertainties around food from cloned animals and their offspring, it is essential that these foods be labeled as such so Californians have the right to choose what we feed ourselves and our families. California has always been a leader in consumer protection, and I hope we continue to lead on this issue. As a leading dairy state, California can not afford to ignore consumer demand. I urge you to sign Senate bill 63 into law and protect Californians’ right to know what it is our food.

Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Address
City, State  Zip

Step 2: Go to the Governor's website, make sure the "have a comment" radio button is selected, enter your information in the fields (First Name, Last Name, Email), then choose "Food and Agriculture" as the subject. Click "submit" to be taken to the page to leave your comment. Paste or type your comment urging the Governor to sign SB 63. I'm ready to go to the Governor's web site. Clicking on this link will open a new window, so you can keep this alert open in order to copy the text again if you need to.

You can also call the Governor at (916) 445-2841. If the links on this page do not work for you, go directly to the Governors web form here: http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email

The CFS report on food from clones, Not Ready for Prime Time, reveals that most cloning studies considered by the FDA when making its decision found troubling abnormalities and defects in animal clones, many of which could pose food safety risks.  Noting the dearth of studies on milk from animal clones, for example, FDA admitted “Few of the cattle clones are old enough to have been bred, given birth, and begun lactating.”  The CFS report also reveals that swine clones are smaller and more sickly than pigs born naturally, and often die early from unexplained illnesses.  The report outlines the frequent and severe deformities clones are afflicted with, and noted that FDA’s review failed to adequately address animal welfare issues, entirely ignoring Americans’ ethical and moral concerns about animal cloning.

Furthermore, a May 2007 national survey by Consumers Union found that 89 percent of Americans want to see cloned foods labeled.  An additional 69 percent said that they have concerns about cloned meat and dairy products in the food supply.

Federal bills to label cloned food have been introduced by Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski and by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.  In addition, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Missouri, Kentucky, Washington, New York and North Carolina have also introduced state bills on cloned food labeling.  A Montana bill calling for a moratorium on food from clones died in committee earlier this year.

The CFS report, Not Ready for Prime Time, is available at
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/AnimalCloning_PR3_21_07.cfm

For more information on SB 63, see http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgibin/postquery?bill_number=sb_63&sess=CUR&house=B&site=sen

For information on federal bills:
The U.S. Senate “Cloned Food Labeling Act,” S.414, is available at:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=S.414&congress=110
The U.S. House version, H.R. 992, is at
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-992

For information on other state bills:
Massachusetts: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st00/st00255.htm
New Jersey: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A4000/3993_I1.HTM
Missouri: http://www.house.mo.gov/bills071/bills/hb486.htm
Kentucky:  http://www.lrc.ky.gov/RECORD/07RS/HC163.htm
Washington: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5161&year=2007#history
New York: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A07421
North Carolina: http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/HTML/H84v1.html