Cloned meat in market raises concerns in UK

The Food Standards Agency of the UK has no idea regarding how many cloned embryos are entering country as the system relies on self-regulation by farmers and breeders.

The agency's comment comes in the wake of confirmed reports that meat from the offspring of a cloned animal had gained entry into the human food chain for the first time last year and almost happened again last week.

Under the agency's rules meat and products from clones and their offspring are considered "novel foods" and need to be authorised prior to being placed on the market.

The experts however have been quick to reassure the public that there was no evidence of any health risks form meat of cloned animals.

The regulation, according to industry experts is somewhat problematic in so far as it depends on farmers and breeders to keep the FSA informed if they import cloned embryos or plan to use products from cloned animals or their offspring.

However, prof Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at the National Institute for Medical Research, one of the experts to confirm the safety of cloned meat does not see any more danger in eating beef from the offspring of a cloned bull or cow than eating beef from cattle bred in conventional ways.