Cloned pork is considered Kosher

Prominent Israeli Rabbi Yuval Cherlow says meat from a cloned pig would be considered kosher under Jewish dietary laws. Cherlow, who is a leading scholar on modern interpretations of Kashrut, is advocating for rabbinic approval of cloned meats in order to reduce animal suffering, decrease meat industry pollution and stamp out starvation. Rabbi Cherlow makes the case that transgenic or cloned meat would not be subject to the same Kashrut dietary laws that guide what is kosher, or “fit,” for consumption by Jews. Cherlow argues that under the halachic system, “when a pig's cell is used and food is produced from the genetic material, the cell actually loses its original identity, and therefore it can not be defined as a prohibited food, nor can it be eaten as milk.” Cherlow says that because meat grown from cells in a lab would have lost its "identity," observant Jews would also be able to eat it alongside dairy products. Non-cloned, traditional pigs are forbidden under Jewish dietary laws because they fail to meet the requirements for an animal to be kosher, or "fit to eat" for Jews. According to certain verses in Deuteronomy, animals must chew their cud and have split hooves. While pigs do have split hooves, they do not chew their cud, so pigs and their derivative meats are forbidden.