June 27, 2009

Japan's agriculture ministry on Friday (Jun 26) decided to allow domestic research institutions to hold tasting sessions in August for general consumers featuring meat from cloned cows and pigs.

The ministry will take the step after the Food Safety Commission submitted a report on Thursday (Jun 25) stating that meat from cloned cows and pigs is safe for consumption.

But the ministry said starting sales of such meat in Japan would be premature, as there are still strong consumer concerns of the safety of meat from cloned animals.

Ministry officials said the current ban on cloned meat will only be lifted after the understanding of the public has been gained.

The ministry in 1999 urged research institutions to refrain from shipping cloned animals and their offspring, and it plans to keep the request intact and to ask the institutions to report how many cloned cows and pigs are being raised, and how much meat from those animals are being incinerated.