WASHINGTON: Green swine good for environment, scientists say

16.nov.08
Gannett News Service
Philip Brasher
http://www.freep.com/article/20081116/NEWS07/811160444/1009WASHINGTON

A group of 21 hogs living at an Ontario university have been genetically engineered so their manure will be less polluting -- but just as smelly as a conventional pig's.Scientists at the University of Guelph envision the Enviropigs' pork being marketed as good for the environment.

No one has eaten it yet, but the scientists say the pork should taste like any other pig. They "look like regular pigs, they act like other pigs, and they regrettably smell like other pigs," said Cecil Forsberg, one of the Guelph scientists.

But for now, the pigs can't leave the lab, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering an application from the university to allow the pork to go to market. The FDA recently proposed guidelines for regulating genetically engineered animals such as the Enviropigs, but consumer activists say the rules are inadequate: The guidelines won't require developers to disclose key details, such as what genes have been used to give the animals their distinctive traits, and food from the animals won't have to be labeled.

Even if the FDA approves the Enviropigs or other biotech animals, it's unclear whether farmers and processors will consider commercializing them. There is no evidence that consumers are clamoring for high-tech foods."We more often hear the cries for something that is closer back to nature," said Scott Eilert, vice president for research and development at Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., one of the largest U.S. meatpackers.

Eilert didn't rule out marketing biotech meat, but he said it is "hard for me to imagine today." He spoke at a forum on the issue sponsored by the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest and a liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress. The pork industry shows little interest in genetically engineered hogs, said Mark Bogges, who follows swine research for the National Pork Board.