Green light for cloned food

While the US Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue an opinion as to whether certain foods from cloned animals are safe to consume, the agency that regulates food in Europe has issued a preliminary report saying that the food is probably safe.

According to the Associated Press, the European Union's Food Safety Authority issued a 47-page report, concluding that while meat and milk from cloned animals is probably safe, there was "only limited data available" on the whole issue of cloning animals. Further consultation with scientists was urged by the safety agency.

The FDA is expected to give its ruling on cloned foods sometime this month, and preliminary information from the agency indicates it, too, will approve their sale. But a 2006 US poll found that more than 64% of Americans were not comfortable with the whole issue of animal cloning, the AP reports.

"Based on current knowledge, there is no expectation that clones or their progeny would introduce any new food safety risks compared with conventionally bred animals," the wire service quotes the European Union preliminary report as saying. – (HealthDayNews)

January 2008