Meat and milk from cloned animals ‘unlikely’ to be bigger safety risk than conventional food
Meat and milk from cloned animals is ‘unlikely’ to be a bigger safety risk than conventionally produced food, according to UK government advisers.
But the experts have highlighted a serious gap in research on the effects of eating food from cloned animals, and warned that consumers will demand that it is clearly labelled.
The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) – which advises the Food Standards Agency – carried out a hypothetical assessment on whether food from cloned animals could go into supermarkets. And it confirmed previous reports from European and US food watchdogs that any meat and milk would be equivalent to that produced from conventionally reared animals.
“The committee noted that evidence showed no differences in composition between the meat and milk of conventional animals, clones or their progeny, and is therefore unlikely to present any food safety risk,” says the FSA.
However, it warns: “Evidence on the composition of meat and milk is relatively limited, and further evidence is required on how the rearing of animals in different environments may affect the meat and milk.”
“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,” adds Dr Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the FSA.