Cloned cow milk causes controversy

The recent news that milk from cloned animals is entering the UK food chain has caused dismay in some quarters. Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil Association says, “There are a number of problems associated with cloning farm animals, perhaps the most immediate being the serious animal welfare issues associated with the cloning process. There are a number of other concerns including about the safety of meat and dairy products from cloned animals.”

However, Dairy UK has countered those concerns. Jim Begg, managing director of Dairy UK, says: “Milk and meat from the offspring of clones does not present any food safety risk. 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.

“This is the first instance where there has been any suggestion of milk associated with cloned animals being used in production and we are liaising closely with the Food Standards Agency. The Food Standards Agency’s view is that milk from the offspring of cloned animals is a novel food, and requires to be approved under the EU Novel Foods Regulation. No applications in respect of this have been made. However the European Commission is undertaking a review of this area and will be calling member states to a meeting later this year to clarify the situation.”

Hockridge further notes, “The use of cloned farm animals fundamentally undermines the freedom of choice of farmers and consumers to avoid these animals and products, because of a lack of transparency in their regulation and traceability. At a time when government is expressing a desire to move towards ‘honest labelling’ of food, so consumers understand what they are purchasing and know its provenance, cloned animals entering the food chain must be tackled with the utmost urgency.”