Unlabeled Cloned Meat: Manufacturing Consent in Action
Health Canada recently moved to allow cloned beef and pork into Canada’s food supply, initially without any labelling requirement. Shawn Buckley explains that this approach would make cloned meat unavoidable for Canadians, creating mandatory exposure without informed consent. More alarming is the scientific foundation: there are no human safety studies, no animal safety studies on cloned pork, and only limited, short-term rat research for cloned beef. At the same time, cloned animals are known to experience higher rates of genetic defects, organ problems, and increased drug use—issues not addressed in Health Canada’s assessment.
Buckley argues the public conversation has been deliberately narrowed to “labelling,” distracting Canadians from the more fundamental question of whether cloned meat should be introduced at all. He describes this as an exercise in manufactured consent: announce an extreme policy, trigger predictable public reaction, pause temporarily, and then proceed once resistance has softened. While the European Union bans cloned meat and is proposing to outlaw the cloning of farm animals entirely, Canada appears ready to move forward based on incomplete science and without strong consumer protections.
Buckley concludes that Canadians deserve better: clear labelling, transparent safety studies—especially involving humans—and regulations that prioritize precaution. Without these safeguards, introducing cloned meat is both ethically and scientifically indefensible.
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