Cloned beef enters US food supply without approval

The FDA has approved cloned beef as safe for human consumption but the USDA had asked farmers to keep the product out of the food supply.

Donald Coover, owner of a specialty cattle semen business, said anyone who says cloned beef is not in the food chain either have no idea what's going on or they are not being honest.

Coover also admitted that he has been openly selling semen from cloned bulls for several years and that he is sure that others are doing the same.

The USDA's main concern is that other countries may refuse to import US beef if cloned beef enters the US food supply. Similar problems have occurred in the past with genetically modified US crops being rejected in the EU, parts of Africa, Asia and the Americas. Sources from the USDA and Office of the US Trade Representatives believe that an unwanted product may do the US more harm than good.

The USDA's request for a moratorium on cloned beef is meant to give time to domestic consumers and other countries to be able to accept the product.

An International Food Information Council Foundation survey found that 22 percent of interviewed US residents had a favourable impression of cloned meat in 2007, up from 16 percent in 2006. About 50 percent viewed cloned meat negatively.

The FDA has rejected calls to require cloned food to be labelled.