European Union - The latest Eurobarometer survey on animal cloning for food production

Cloning animals for food products is even less popular than GM food with 18 per cent of Europeans in support. In only two countries – Spain and the Czech Republic – does animal cloning attract the support of three in ten. This contrasts with 14 countries in which support for GM food is above 30 per cent. Is this an indication of broader public anxieties about biotechnology and food? The idea of the ‘natural superiority of the natural’ captures many of the trends in European food production, such as enthusiasm for organic food, local food, and worries about food-miles. And if ‘unnaturalness’ is one of the problems associated with GM food, it appears to be an even greater concern in the case of animal cloning and food products.

What does the European public think of animal cloning for food products?

• 71 per cent respondents have heard about animal cloning, with four in ten having talked about or searched for information on the topic.
• the European public see animal cloning as not offering benefits, as unsafe, as inequitable and as worrying.
• 70 per cent of respondents disagreed that animal cloning in food production should be encouraged, while only 15 per cent agreed.
• 77 per cent agreed that it is fundamentally unnatural.
• 67 per cent agreed that it makes them feel uneasy.
• 57 per cent agreed that animal cloning in food production is not good for either themselves or their families.
• 64 per cent disagreed that it is safe for future generations, while only 17 agreed.
• 54 per cent feel it benefits some people but puts others at risk.
• 60 per cent do not consider it to be good for the national economy.