August 17, 2010

EU passes UK's cloned meat as safe

The European Commission has confirmed that no action needs to be taken against the UK, after news broke that meat from the offspring of cloned animals has entered food chain.

The commission's public health directorate, DG Sanco said meat from the offspring of a cloned animal is fit for human consumption and should not be treated any differently to that from a 'conventional' animal.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been criticised by the farming industry over its stance that it is 'illegal' to sell food from the offspring of cloned animals.

This is based on its interpretation of the EU's novel food regulations, governing foods made using new techniques. The FSA position, in contrast to the commission's, is that meat and products from clones and their offspring are considered 'novel foods' and would therefore need to be authorised before being placed on the market.

Scottish farmer Steven Innes was found to have sold meat from the offspring of a cloned animal into the food chain a fortnight ago. Subsequent FSA investigations found that meat from two further descendants of the cloned cow entered the food chain.

The meat from one of the animals was exported to Belgium. The Belgian Food Safety Administration has put out a statement saying the meat is not considered to be cloned meat as it did not come from a cloned animal but was 'third-generation' meat.

It was considered to be 'conventional meat' and therefore no specific measures are being taken, agency spokesperson Lieve Busschots said.