23/08/2025
mRNA Moves Into the Food Chain: Australia’s Foot and Mouth Vaccine Raises Alarms
Australia is celebrating what the government calls a “world-first breakthrough” in protecting livestock from foot and mouth disease. Behind the headlines, however, sits a development that could change the food supply forever.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales, working with international partners, have created a fully synthetic mRNA vaccine for cattle. Officials are quick to frame it as a safeguard against a biosecurity disaster, claiming it will protect billions in trade and keep supermarkets stocked.
But many Australians are asking different questions.
From COVID to Cattle
The public is still divided over mRNA technology in humans. Now, without much debate, the same technology is being shifted into the meat industry. If this vaccine becomes standard practice, every steak, sausage and carton of milk could soon come from animals injected with synthetic particles.
The promise is that it is biodegradable, fast to produce, and does not rely on live viruses. That makes it cheaper and easier for government rollouts. Yet critics argue it also makes it easier for authorities to slip new biotech into food supply chains with little public awareness or oversight.
Will Consumers Be Told?
Nowhere in the government’s announcement is there clear mention of consumer choice. If animals are vaccinated with mRNA, will meat products be labelled? Will families be able to decide whether they want to eat beef and lamb from livestock injected with this technology? Or will it simply become another case of “trust us, it’s safe” while the details disappear into regulatory paperwork?
Farmers in the Crosshairs
Supporters say the vaccine will protect farmers from financial ruin if an outbreak ever occurs. What is left unsaid is that this is also about securing billions in export markets, not small family farms. Many farmers are already suspicious of biotech giants pushing patented solutions that lock producers into new systems of control.
If mRNA injections become the only way to participate in trade, will farmers have any choice but to comply?
A Step Toward Synthetic Food Control
The development fits into a wider global trend. Lab-grown meat, insect protein, and synthetic food systems are being heavily promoted by corporations and international bodies. This mRNA vaccine could act as another building block in shifting agriculture away from natural farming and into the hands of labs and technocrats.
Rushed and Celebrated
The vaccine was developed in less than 18 months, a timeline the government celebrates as a triumph. For many Australians, that rings alarm bells. Rushed science and fast-tracked approval are becoming a pattern. The concern is not just about whether the vaccine works, but whether the long-term impacts on livestock, ecosystems, and human health have been properly studied.
Where This Leaves Us
Australia is still free of foot and mouth disease. The threat of an $80 billion outbreak is real, but so too are the risks of blindly inserting synthetic biology into the food chain.
AFIPN believes this should be a national conversation, not just a government press release. Consumers deserve transparency. Farmers deserve freedom to choose. And Australia must decide whether protecting trade is worth quietly rewriting the very food that ends up on our plates.
