. . . ain't talking

Science beats nature at precision. Policy dodges the public.

Here's one for you. Canada is presently at odds with the USA in some fundamental ways, except one. CLONING.

While Ottawa and Washington bicker over tariffs, dairy quotas, softwood lumber, and Arctic sovereignty, they’re quietly high-fiving in the shadows over cloned beef and pork. No labels. No warnings. No public debate. Just a regulatory shrug: “It’s the same as regular meat, so why bother telling anyone?”

As of November 2025, Health Canada and the CFIA have removed cloned animals and their offspring from the “novel foods” list — meaning no pre-market safety review, no mandatory labeling, no disclosure.

This is Dolly-the-sheep tech — somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) — and make no mistake: it’s a scientific masterpiece. A full genetic copy from a single adult cell. A living Xerox of elite livestock. The breakthrough that launched a thousand labs and rewrote the rules of biology.

How it works (plain):
1. Take one skin cell from a prize bull.
2. Remove its nucleus (the DNA).
3. Insert it into an empty egg cell.
4. Zap with electricity — egg thinks it’s fertilized.
5. Implant in a surrogate cow.
6. Result: A genetic twin of the original bull — born months or years later.

1996 vs. 2025:

Year	Success Rate	Clones Born	Cost per Clone
1996	<1%	1 (Dolly)	$100K+
2025	20–30%	5,000+ cattle	$15K–20K

Back then: 277 tries → 1 lamb.
Now: Routine. Offspring? Perfectly normal.

What’s on the Plate?

Animal	Cloned?	In Your Grocery Store?
Beef	Yes	Offspring meat — unlabeled
Pork	Yes	Bacon, chops — unlabeled
Chicken	No	Not part of this policy
Dairy	Yes	Milk from cloned lines — unlabeled

Where Else Is This Happening?

USA: Green-lit since 2008 (FDA).
Australia / New Zealand: Unlabeled since mid-2000s.
EU: BANNED — ethics, not safety.
Brazil / Argentina: Exporting worldwide.

Do Cloned Animals Survive? — Versus Nature

Yes — if they make it past birth. But nature doesn’t even try.

Stage	Cloning (SCNT)	Nature (Breeding)
Conception	60–70% embryo survival	~90% (natural mating)
Live Birth	30–50%	~95%
Weaning	20–30%	~98%
Adulthood	15–25% of embryos	~90% of live births
Lifespan	18+ years (survivors)	15–20 years (avg)

Bottom line:
- Cloning: High early loss — but survivors match natural lifespan.
- Nature: Low early loss — but no genetic precision.
Offspring (cloned or natural): No difference.