A row over the offspring of a cloned cow born at a Shropshire farm has reopened the debate about the safety of Britain’s food chain.Meat or milk from the calves reared at Smiddiehill Holsteins in Albrighton - flown into Britain as frozen embryos and implanted into a surrogate - could be on sale here within months. Campaigners say food from clones is barred from the food chain but there are no legal safeguards over their offspring.
It is believed eight “clone farm” calves were born - four males and four females - although the herd has been dispersed and no-one is sure where the animals are now.
Their mother is a clone, created in a US laboratory with cells taken from the ear of a prize-winning animal. Details of the births came as a Food Standards Agency study found an overwhelming majority of consumers object to all “clone farm” plans.
The European Food Safety Authority also released draft guidance in January concluding that foods from cloned pigs and cattle were essentially identical to those from conventionally bred animals.
A Defra spokesman said: “There is no obligation on us to keep records of the numbers of cloned animals and imports.” He said cloned animals coming into the UK would be subject to strict veterinary controls.
The FSA study, conducted by Creative Research, found the more consumers lea- rned about cloning, the more they objected.
Creative Research director Dr Steve Griggs said: “They characterised animal cloning as very much interfering with nature.”
US authorities approved “clone farm” food in January. Advocates say the technique will let farmers create herds of supersize cows, able to produce vast amounts of milk, leading to higher profits.
And there is now evidence British businessmen farmers are buying into the idea.
By Nathan Rous
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