Stores seek to reassure shoppers over report that milk from offspring of a cloned cow is on sale in Britain.
Dairies, supermarkets and food regulators are urgently investigating claims that milk from the offspring of a cloned cow is on sale in Britain in apparent breach of the law.
As stores sought to reassure shoppers over milk supplies, which were worth £3.5bn last year, campaigners called for an EU-wide ban on the sale of food that could be sourced back to clones.
Research has suggested strong consumer opposition to such food but the EU has still to reach a verdict on the issue. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) believes that EU rules on novel foods ensure no food from clones' offspring can be legally sold without a scientific assessment as to whether it is safe.
No applications for authorisation have been made either to the FSA or the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Any breach of this requirement could lead to a fine of up to £5,000. Food from clones themselves are banned.
European authorities have been caught on the hop, despite the US Food and Drug Administration deciding more than two years ago that meat and milk of clones and their offspring was safe, thus clearing the way for them to be sold in the States.
The EFSA, based in Parma, Italy, said in 2008 there was no indication from limited research that food from cloned pigs and cattle or their progeny would be any less safe than conventionally reared livestock, but raised concerns over health and welfare issues in the animals. The commission in Brussels recently requested further information and last month MEPs voted to ban the sale of meat and milk derived from cloned animals. A further formal scientific opinion from EFSA is not expected until October.
Dairy Crest, one of the largest milk producers in the UK, said it would carry out further checks on its suppliers, stressing they were already subject to regular inspections. About 70% of its milk comes from 1,400 suppliers – mainly farms – with the remaining 30% from third-party producers such as co-ops.
Marks & Spencer, which recently unveiled a new partnership with farmers giving incentives for improving animal living conditions, said reports from its stores today suggested shoppers were not worried about the claims. "Our customers can enjoy our milk safe in the knowledge that it comes from British farms with the highest standards," said a spokeswoman.
Waitrose said: "As a retailer with high standards of animal welfare, our position on this issue is simple. Waitrose does not sell milk or meat from cloned animals. We have absolute traceability for all our food and we only source from farms we know and trust."
Dr Steve Griggs, who led FSA research on consumer reaction to food from clones' offspring, said: "The overwhelming majority either did not want it or were unsure. They struggled to identify any convincing benefits for them as consumers. There were concerns about the ethical side of animal cloning, indeed whether we have the moral right to go down this road."
The RSPCA said: "Cloning has huge potential to cause unnecessary pain, suffering and distress which cannot be justified by purely commercial benefits."
On Thursday, the International Herald Tribune reported that an unnamed UK farmer was selling milk from a cow bred from a clone. The farmer said he was selling embryos from the same cow to breeders in Canada.
An FSA spokeswoman said: "Since 2007 the FSA interpretation of the law has been that meat and products from clones and their offspring are considered novel foods and would therefore need to be authorised before being placed on the market.
"As the UK authority responsible for accepting novel food applications the agency has not received any applications relating to cloning and no authorisations have been made. The agency will of course investigate any reports of unauthorised novel foods entering the food chain."
Three years ago it emerged that a calf from a cloned cow was born on a British farm. The farm reportedly bought frozen embryos from a cow that had been cloned by the US biotech firm Cyagra Clone.
