# Would You Be Willing to Eat Cloned Food? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863 "2005-04-11T22:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/1 "2005-04-11T22:58:08Z")
I was listening to NPR today and they were talking about farmers asking the FDA to allow them to sell meat, milk, etc. from cloned animals. The FDA hasn’t quite made up their mind on the matter yet, and NPR interviewed someone from one of the consumer advocacy groups who said that while there probably was no danger from consuming cloned animal products, the reaction of most people to that idea was, “Yuck!” I find that kind of hard to believe. I can understand people being wary of eating genetically engineered foods, like say, tomatoes with fish genes inserted in them, but cloned animals aren’t all that different than ordinary animals. So, would you do it? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/2 "2005-04-11T23:04:29Z")
Are you telling me that every chicken actually doesn’t look alike? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/3 "2005-04-11T23:07:30Z")
Sure. I realized a long time ago that in this day and age I’m far removed from my food to begin with. And what’s more, I don’t really care. As long as it tastes good and isn’t putting me at any (additional) risk, why would I care? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/4 "2005-04-11T23:09:29Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Are you telling me that every chicken actually doesn’t look alike? :dubious: Well, it depends if they’re choked or unchoked. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/5 "2005-04-11T23:12:43Z")
Presumably the chickens know who’s who. I’ve never really thought about it, but I don’t guess I’d have a problem with it. You know how when you make a photocopy, and then you make a photocopy of the photocopy, and then you photocopy that, and you keep going while each successive copy gets fuzzier and fuzzier, until you finally end up with something completely unusable that looks nothing like the original? From what I understand, cloning is nothing like that. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/6 "2005-04-11T23:16:17Z")
Sure. I’d also eat irradiated food. Science is our friend, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Khadro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Khadro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadro)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/7 "2005-04-11T23:17:16Z")
I’m willing to go one step further and demand that we find one perfect specimen of each animal, and then ONLY eat meat cloned from said animal. At the same time, I am not against genetically modifying an animal to create abovementioned perfect animal. Or one animal of which each limb is a separate kind of meat. As long as I get my meat. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/8 "2005-04-11T23:26:23Z")
I agree with **Khadro** ’s post 100%. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/9 "2005-04-11T23:44:00Z")
Almost all of the farm raised animals (and vegetables for that matter) today have been genetically modified. You don’t think you could go back 10,000 years ago and find a Rhode Island Red or an Angus cow or even an ear of sweet corn in the wild now do you? They just bred and selected them out the slow way. I am for anything that improves on this process. I have probably eaten something that was an identical twin, a clone, sometime in my life already. So a definite “yes” for me. ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/10 "2005-04-12T00:20:13Z")
And I, for one, welcome our new cloned… meat. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/11 "2005-04-12T00:31:58Z")
Yeah, I would. But it couldn’t hurt to test it for a year or so, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/12 "2005-04-12T01:05:41Z")
Assuming it was made known that it was cloned, no. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/13 "2005-04-12T03:22:57Z")
I’d like to eat a bubble gum flavored banana. (Bonus points to whoever can get where that came from.) ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/14 "2005-04-12T03:35:31Z")
I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to make livestock even \*more \*genetically homogenous. One good outbreak and they’ll be wiped out. But would I eat it? Sure. It’s just meat. The exact same meat. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/15 "2005-04-12T03:39:05Z")
If it passes Safety inspection, I don’t see why I wouldn’t. Cloned meat is the same as non-cloned meat. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/16 "2005-04-12T03:45:39Z")
Slight hijack, but what is the benefit of eating cloned animals? Although if they can make a pig that makes the world’s most perfect bacon and only 5 calories per thick, delicious slice, I’m all for cloning that pig. Even better if it’s like that pig from the Garden of Eden in _The Simpsons._ Then we’d only need one. Otherwise, I’m kinda having a hard time wrapping my brain around the expense involved in cloning an animal only to be on the slaughterhouse floor a short while later. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/17 "2005-04-12T03:54:49Z")
I eat cloned food all the time: apples, potatoes, onions, grapes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/18 "2005-04-12T04:10:28Z")
I would, no problem. In fact I’d go further and would eat some meat cloned in a lab from one of my own cells at least once. Just for curiosities sake. What a wierd world the future could be. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/19 "2005-04-12T04:27:15Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > I would, no problem. In fact I’d go further and would eat some meat cloned in a lab from one of my own cells at least once. Just for curiosities sake. > > What a wierd world the future could be. Now at McDonald’s: McYou Long Pig! You deserve to be ate today![sup]TM[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863/20 "2005-04-12T04:52:52Z")
Sure, I would, though I doubt it will ever become an issue. I’d guess it’ll always be cheaper and easier to make baby animals the old-fashioned way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-be-willing-to-eat-cloned-food/298863.md?page=2)