November 29, 2010

 

UK's cloned meat declared safe to eat

Meat and milk from cloned cows in the UK is safe to eat, the government's leading food scientist ruled Thursday (Nov 25).

 

Andrew Wadge, the chief scientist at the Food Standards Agency (FSA), said an independent study had shown that there was no difference between ordinary cattle and cloned cattle. His comments paved the way for milk and meat to be made available in British shops. Those were the clearest indication yet that the controversial farming practice could be accepted officially.

 

Mr Wadge's statement was in response to a study by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, an independent body that examines all new food products for the FSA to assess whether they are safe to go on sale.

 

After an examination of all the evidence, its panel of experts concluded that there was no material difference between meat and milk from standard animals and products from cloned specimens.

 

Studies of possible issues over allergies, toxins and possible side-effects of eating cloned meat "did not highlight any issues of concern.

 

Mr Wadge said, "The ACNFP has confirmed that meat and milk from cloned cattle and their offspring shows no substantial difference to conventionally produced meat and milk and therefore is unlikely to present a food safety risk."

 

The FSA will discuss the issue at a board meeting next month. Insiders said previous "safe" rulings by the advisory committee nearly always led to licences being granted. The committee's study was prompted by a scare in the summer when it emerged that meat from the offspring of a cloned cow had been sold unwittingly in butchers' shops without a licence being obtained.

 

The discovery that such meat had entered the food chain triggered an ill-tempered debate into the ethics of cloning animals. The advisory committee could not issue a safety ruling because it had not received an application from a producer wanting to sell milk or meat from a cloned animal. The FSA, keen to try to clear up the complex issue, commissioned an investigation into a hypothetical request to sell products from cloned cattle.

 

Many in the farming community believe that cloning is nothing more than a sophisticated breeding technique, no more controversial than artificial insemination, but it was unclear whether the announcement would encourage farmers to submit applications to sell products from cloned cows.

 

It admitted that, following a relaxation of a voluntary ban on cloned meat in America, it was more than possible that far more cloned meat had entered the food chain than the few pies that had caused the row in Britain.

 

David Bowles, a spokesman for the RSPCA, said there appeared to be a growing acceptance of allowing some form of cloned meat and milk entering the food chain, but its opposition to cloning was based on welfare issues. "The scientific studies are clear: animals suffer and are more likely to die during the cloning process," Bowles said.