Meat from cloned cow's calf entered UK food chain

The FSA said it had traced two bulls born in the UK from embryos harvested from a cloned cow in the United States, both of which had been slaughtered.

It said meat from one animal, called Dundee Paratrooper, had entered the food chain and "will have been eaten". Meat from the other had been stopped from being consumed by humans.

A spokeswoman said: "Dundee Paratrooper was born in December 2006 and was slaughtered in July 2009. Meat from this animal entered the food chain and will have been eaten.

"The second, Dundee Perfect, was born in March 2007 and was slaughtered on 27 July 27, 2010. Meat from this animal has been stopped from entering the food chain."

The FSA began investigating reports that products from the offspring of cloned animals had been available to the public after claims a British farmer had admitted using milk in his daily production without labelling it as coming from the offspring of a cloned cow.

The spokeswoman said it had traced a single animal but could not confirm that its milk had entered the food chain.

She said: "We have traced a single animal, Dundee Paradise, which is believed to be part of a dairy herd, but at present we cannot confirm that milk from this animal has entered the food chain. As part of this investigation, local authority officials are visiting the farm on which this herd is kept."

UK industry body DairyCo said on Monday it was "confident" no milk from the offspring of cloned animals had entered the human food chain.

DairyCo said a British farmer had denied reports he was selling milk produced by a cow born to a clone - something banned without FSA approval.

The farmer, who has not been named, told DairyCo he was using the offspring of a cloned pedigree Holstein cow only to create embryos for sale abroad

Under European law, foodstuffs, including milk, produced from cloned animals must pass a safety evaluation and gain authorisation before being marketed.

But the FSA, the UK body responsible for the assessment of "novel foods" produced by cloned animals and their offspring, said it had neither made any authorisations nor been asked to do so.

The European Food Safety Authority said in 2008: "No clear evidence has emerged to suggest any differences between food products from clones or their offspring, in terms of food safety, compared to products from conventionally bred animals.

"But we must acknowledge that the evidence base, while growing and showing consistent findings, is still small."

The European Parliament voted last month for an immediate moratorium on the sale of food from cloned animals and their offspring until new legislation expressly banning it can be introduced.

Campaigners are concerned about the possibility of produce from cloned farm animals entering the food chain, but farming groups insist it poses no risk.