Advisers to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr are reportedly concerned that the issue of cloned meat and animal breeding could create significant divisions within his Make America Healthy Again movement, according to Daily Mail sources.
The Transatlantic Cloning Policy Divide
This complex problem gained renewed attention this week when Canada announced it would permit cloned meat products to be sold in supermarkets without any disclosure to consumers. This practice mirrors what the United States has quietly allowed for nearly two decades, since the Food and Drug Administration first approved cloned animal products for consumption in 2008 following a comprehensive seven-year study.
The Trump Administration's Health Department has taken no official stance on cloned-animal products in the food supply, with sources close to Kennedy indicating the department may weigh in later on what they describe as an 'interesting issue.' Currently, HHS is deferring all policy authority to the FDA, which operates under Kennedy's leadership.
Public Unawareness and Consumption Patterns
The revelation that Americans have potentially been consuming cloned meat products for years without knowledge has shocked many, particularly those within Kennedy's health-conscious movement. A Department of Agriculture estimate from 2008 indicated approximately 600 cloned animals existed in the US, primarily cattle used for breeding rather than direct slaughter.
A 2010 Congressional Research Service report suggested that meat products from these clones entering the food supply could number in the hundreds or even thousands. However, as the report noted, 'those numbers would amount to a small fraction of the total number of US livestock slaughtered' - paling in comparison to the roughly 150 million cows and hogs killed annually.
The regulatory landscape means that while cloned animals themselves are typically used for breeding, their offspring regularly reach supermarket shelves, with no legal requirement for labelling. This means Americans could be unknowingly consuming meat or dairy derived from a clone's lineage.
Scientific Perspectives and Consumer Choice
Wujie Zhang, a chemistry professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering who works with stem cell-based medicines and tissue engineering, told the Daily Mail that producers generally disclose only what is required by law. 'I would expect sales to change if the meat source were indicated as coming from cloned animal,' Zhang stated. 'As a consumer myself, I don't think we can really control what comes to the market, but it's more important to know what we're getting and to have a choice. If labeled, I may buy.'
The FDA's original risk assessment acknowledged that cloned animals suffer more frequent health issues than conventionally bred livestock. Their 2010 report noted: 'While the types of animal health problems observed in cloned animals are no different than those found with other assisted reproductive technologies, these problems appear more frequently in cloning than in the other technologies.'
These problems include late gestational complications in surrogate mothers and increased risk of mortality and morbidity in calf and lamb clones. Despite these animal welfare concerns, the FDA concluded that meat and milk from clones or their offspring pose no additional food consumption risks to humans compared with products from conventionally bred animals.
The current situation presents a particular challenge for Kennedy's MAHA movement, which includes tech-forward members aligned with figures like Elon Musk who view cloned breeding as a potentially valuable tool for boosting sustainability and environmental outcomes.
While Kennedy hasn't publicly commented specifically on cloned meat, he has taken a strong stance against lab-grown meat, which he criticised in 2022 as 'extremely unhealthy' and accused the industry of misleading the public. His tweet from November 2022 stated: 'The industry's fake meat is just another name for ultra-processed food. [It's] full of GE and pesticide-laden ingredients designed to look as much like meat as possible.'
Since taking office, Kennedy has declared war on food dyes and added sugar, which he called 'poison,' positioning himself as a strong proponent for natural foods and opponent of processed foods and genetically modified organisms.
The FDA has not released any new information or data regarding cloned animal practices in recent years, leaving unanswered questions about how many cloned animals are currently in US livestock systems and how much of their offspring's products are reaching consumers.
