I just wanted to share this article from abc news dated July 16, 2001.
Infigen who breeds cloned animals was waiting for FDA approval.  They got it
this year---milk lactoferrin was declared GRAS.  I am quite sure that the
lactoferrin produced through this new science will be used in the infant
formula industry.  In fact the Netherlands huge dairy company, DMV, has
stated this at their web site.  I think abc news is a credible source for
information.  Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/clonedmilk_010716.html

"An experimental dairy farm in Wisconsin is producing some of the world's
first milk from a herd of 21 cloned cows, 17 of them from the same original
animal, all genetically identical.Infigen, the biotech company that runs the
farm, says its cows are normal and healthy, the milk looks and tastes just
like any other. The lack of any completed scientific study on the milk's
safety doesn't stop Infigen's president, Michael Bishop, from pouring himself
a glass. "It's delicious," he said.Bishop is not concerned about what might
be wrong with the milk. He thinks it's perfectly normal and would like to
start selling it as soon as he can. "Scientifically, I have no basis to
believe otherwise," Bishop said. "I don't like pouring all this milk down the
drain."To date there is nothing to stop him. The Food and Drug Administration
has asked biotech companies to voluntarily refrain from selling animal
products derived from clones, but there are no laws in place. The FDA is
waiting for the National Academy of Sciences to complete a review of the
safety of cloned animal products. The report is expected sometime in January.
Hoping For Public TrustInfigen has agreed to wait until the federal report
comes out before marketing its milk, but it's mostly a public relations move.
Bishop has learned from the widespread public mistrust of genetically
engineered foods.Cloned animals are not considered genetically engineered
(their DNA has not been modified in any way, simply copied), and Infigen
wants to make sure the public understands the distinction. "We have to be
diligent in getting in front of consumer groups. We need to put together the
data, go out and tell them about this."Infigen has commissioned two studies
of its own, each to see if there are, in fact, no differences between its
cloned milk and milk from "regular" cows. "We owe it to our consumers to show
these products are normal," said Bishop. "Let them see for themselves that
there is nothing to fear." Too Little KnownGroups that monitor genetically
engineered foods say they are also concerned about cloned animal products,
only because we know so little about their safety. "We don't know what the
genetic ramifications would be and how it would play out with products from
the animals," said Joe Mendelson, legal director for the Washington-based
Center for Food Safety.Mendelson said the lack of regulation is troublesome.
"This is definitely a loophole that we need to get a hold of."A recent study
found that only 2 percent to 5 percent of attempts to clone animals actually
succeed, and that the animals who are born often develop serious health
problems. Many appear normal, but harbor genes that don't express themselves
properly. While it's unclear what kind of effect that may have on the
animals, or on the people who eat their products, some cloned animals,
including Dolly the cloned sheep, have shown strange symptoms like becoming
abnormally obese.Infigen claims their patented cloning technique is
different. They boast a 17 percent success rate and say their cows that
actually come to term are born are healthy. Bishop refuses to say what's
different about his company's process that allows such a high percentage of
successful, healthy births, as well as healthy adult cows. He only answers
that he doesn't know why everyone else has problems, he just knows Infigen
doesn't.But for the milk, there is still the initial public relations war to
win. Bishop says he's not too worried about the FDA, it's the milk-drinking,
ice-cream-eating public that he says needs to know cloned milk is no
different from the "normal" stuff.But Mendelson isn't so sure. He thinks
Infigen might just want to keep pouring its milk down the drain for a while
longer. "I think as more research is done, we find out there are likely
subtle variations and that the technology is not perfect."





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