Britannist

I don't like the 'E' in all of the reference codes for the various antioxidants and preservatives Besoeker mentions above.

The EU is behind these codes :evil: .

As a nation, we are perfectly capable of coding these things ourselves - and did so before we were forced into the EEC/EU.

Alex McKee

In specifics, firstly plain English should be used. E-Numbers are not greatly helpful, nor are acronyms and abbreviations.

Secondly, rather than printing the entire document on the side of the packet, a company could provide an internet URL (web address) to a document with complete information.

As to what should be on the packet - the salient points: approval by standards organisations (soil assoc. [for organic]) and labels for "contains genetically modified ingredients", "contains ingredients sourced from cloned animals/plants" et cetera.

Obviously the matter needs some serious thought invested into it; that is what the food standards agency is supposed to be doing.

Brittanist: You are completely correct: E-Numbers are EU in origin. However, the actual numbering scheme comes from an international organisation of best practice.

I think that such an endeavour (the Codex Alimentarius) is definitely worth being involved in (Britain should seek input) but we should also define our own standards, which I suspect would invariably be higher than international ones.

Besoeker

But there's the problem. Or a problem at least. As I said earlier, it is unlikely to have come from cloned animals. It is much more likely to have come from animals that result from breeding with a cloned animal. Or from animals that result from breeding with an animal that has bred a cloned animal. Or etc.......the resulting relationship to a cloned animal could be quite distant.
Agreed.

Alex McKee

I understand that however, as I did say in my first post on this thread, I would strongly like to see any herds of cloned animals kept separate from normal ones and bred only with other cloned animals. I am not sure on the practicality of this but it seems possible.

Besoeker

Yes, possible I would have thought. But prohibitively expensive to have a herd of cloned animals.

Alex McKee

Precisely :wink:

No, seriously, if they believe the benefits of doing it are that great, any (fiscal) cost is surely acceptable

Besoeker

I lived in the county of Angus - the Angus of Aberdeen Angus (aka Black Angus) cattle. Despite being a farmer's boy, my knowledge of cattle breeding is fairly limited. What I observed is that cattle, in particular bulls, were bred for particular characteristics that were intended to ensure that any beasts sired by them for generations to come would produce meat of a quantity and quality that get top prices at market.
The bulls that were bred weren't sold for meat. Their value was as breeders. Some changed hands for huge amounts of money. One local to us fetched £36k. I was at school at the time, so about 45 years ago.

I imagine cloning would be used to clone specimens considered to be like the one above. Not every cattle beast.
Just me speculating.