Newsletter No. 91 – Item 2

At the time of publication (October 2010) these two topics were actively discussed in the press.  Whether or not they are safe for human consumption is not important when it comes to marketing our products it is “consumer perception” that is important.   These extreme efforts to improve genetic performance are driven by the need to produce food ever more efficiently.   The traditional species have  reached their extremes through natural selection and now seeking assistance from biotechnology.

A major advantage for Ostrich is the fact that no meaningful genetic improvement using natural selection has yet been applied to production ostrich, thus offering signficant opportunities.

The European Food Safety Authority has issued an Update on the State of Play of Animal Cloning which can be read here:  http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/scdoc/1784.htm .

The discussion on Genetic Modification in meat production was in the news announcing Genetically Modified Salmon.  Whether approved or not, from a marketing viewpoint the current reports are that the FDA in the US may not approve labelling to enable consumers to make choices on what they buy  – and how this decision could have a serious impact on the whole industry – Genetically engineered salmon, if approved by FDA, could destroy the salmon industry.  As this news item hit in October 2010, several of the articles provided in this newsletter are no longer available to read, thus the links are deleted.

Both these issues emphasize the opportunities for ostrich once production is put onto a full commercial basis with genetic improvement by natural selection.  Produced under commercial conditions, Ostrich can provide a red meat cost effectively.