Japan seeks consumer opinion on marketing of cloned meat

Japan may have passed beef and pork products from somatic cell-cloned animals and their offspring as safe, but whether the products will be marketed is dependent on public sentiment.

Public comment will be accepted for a month, officials said.

Although the Food Safety Commission ruled the clone meat products as safe, the agriculture ministry is cautious about an immediate lifting of a ban on the products for human consumption. The ministry noted there is a need to listen to consumers and producers, and to also study various aspects other than the safety issue.

An agricultural official said the ministry would not ask producers and traders to lift the current voluntary ban on the distribution of products from cloned animals.

The panel said there is no safety problem for human consumption of meat from cloned animals.