Claim of Cloned Cow Milk on Sale Being Probed

A claim that milk from the offspring of a cloned cow was on sale for public consumption is to be investigated by food safety officials in Britain.

The disclosure has provoked concern among some farming campaigners, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is set to investigate a report in Friday's International Herald Tribune newspaper.

Clone Food Plan Rejected by EU Committee
A controversial proposal to allow food from cloned animals and their offspring onto the European market was rejected by an EU parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

But the body that represents Britain's dairy industry insisted that there was no danger.

The newspaper quoted a British dairy farmer, speaking anonymously, saying that he was using milk from a cow bred from a clone as part of his daily production.

The farmer did not want his name to be disclosed because he feared Britons saw cloning as "distasteful" so buyers would stop taking his milk if they knew who he was.

Milk from Cloned Cows is Not Welcome at the Nation's Biggest Milk Company
Dean Foods Co. of Dallas said Thursday that its customers and consumers don't want milk from cloned animals.

The FSA said in response that it regarded meat and products from cloned animals and their offspring as "novel foods" which need to be authorised before being put on sale.

"The agency has not received any applications relating to cloning and no authorisations have been made," a spokeswoman said.

Milk from cloned cows and meat safe to use: But at what cost?
Successful cloning has been a dream come true for the scientists who been working hard for the same. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to take an extra step ahead

"The agency will, of course, investigate any reports of unauthorised novel foods entering the food chain."

Peter Stevenson, from campaigners Compassion in World Farming, said he was "extremely concerned" at the report and called for an outright ban on the sale of food from cloned animals and their offspring.

Two Cases in U.S raise alarm of an unusual strain of Mad Cow Disease.
Washington: Two cases of a different and rather intriguing strain of mad cow disease has been detected in Texas and Alabama

He said: "The Food Standards Agency must act quickly to trace this milk and get it withdrawn from shops. The cloning of farm animals can involve great suffering."

Emma Hockridge of the Soil Association, which campaigns for organic farming, added there were other concerns related to the safety of products from cloned animals and that they could reduce genetic diversity.

But Dairy UK, which represents the industry in Britain, insisted there was no danger.

"Milk and meat from the offspring of clones does not present any food safety risk," it said in a statement.

"The European Food Safety Authority has concluded that there is no difference in food safety between meat and milk from the offspring of cloned animals and products from conventionally bred animals".

Source-AFP