In 2007, the FDA approved the use of breeding with cloned animals to produce milk, eggs, and even meat to be sold to the public. The cloned animals themselves are not to be consumed, but their offspring don’t have such a lucky fate. Consumers have expressed their right to be able to know whether food is cloned or not. “Clone-Free” labels have been considered, but the FDA has decided to not require the labels because the cloned food is “no different” than that from a conventionally bred animal. Food producers can voluntarily label their products as clone-free, but only if the claim is valid.

The USDA considers cows conceived by in vitro fertilization to be organic. Comparing this process to cloning is questionable. Neither procedure includes natural conception, but at least in vitro fertilization still uses egg and sperm. The FDA argues that cloning is not actually genetic engineering, because the gene sequence is not altered, simply duplicated.

Cloning is a technology used to reproduce, but it has yet to be determined if it is an organic process. An organic food label is not an indicator of wholesome natural conception, for now. In the future, knowing your food source may be common knowledge. Or you might be drinking milk from the ‘same cow’ for the rest of your life without even knowing it.