Amount of clone-derived meat in UK 'unknown'

The Food Standards Agency has admitted that it does not know how many embryos from cloned animals have been imported into Britain, after it was revealed that meat from one had already entered the food chain and been eaten.

Yesterday, the FSA revealed that meat from the offspring of a cloned cow entered the UK food chain a year ago, in the first official confirmation of a breach of food laws.

A second bull born from an embryo taken from a cloned cow was slaughtered last week, but the meat was intercepted before it could be sold. The agency has found another cloned offspring in a dairy herd.

Today, Highland council said it was investigating the history of both bulls with farmer Callum Innes from Auldearn, Inverness. "We are working with the FSA and we sent two animal health officers to the farm yesterday to meet and speak with the farmer."

At least 96 cattle have been reported to be registered by the company New Meadow Holsteins of Inverness. Investigations by the food agency into the dairy cattle were also continuing. This is not believed to concern the same farm.

This morning, the FSA chief executive, Tim Smith, stressed there were no health risks associated with eating meat or drinking milk from the descendants of cloned cow, but admitted the agency was unsure of how deeply cloned offspring had penetrated the British market.

"There's a live investigation going on at the moment and, whilst we have got a first-class cattle tracing scheme, what we don't know is precisely how many embryos have been imported into the country," Smith said.

However, he insisted that while there was debate within the EU about how far the progeny of clones should be regulated, the FSA believed that the novel food regulations do apply and should have been followed.

Yesterday, officials from the European commission had said the FSA was wrong in its interpretation of the EU regulations, and that offspring of cloned animals were not covered.

A commission official said at a briefing in Brussels: "There could be lots of milk from the offspring of cloned animals in Europe as there is no need to notify the authorities over this. We have no figures on this."

Smith defended the FSA, saying the UK had a "first-class cattle tracing scheme and direct supervision of all abattoirs", and called for co-operation from breeders.

"It's a bit like the police being there and being an efficient service and us expecting no crime," he told BBC Radio 4.

"It's inevitable that however good the system is, it ultimately relies on the honesty of the people who are participating in the chain.

"So it means that every farmer, every breeder, every processor has to come clean and tell us what it is they're actually doing. It's impossible for us to stand by each animal and watch what happens to it throughout its life cycle."

The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, promised today: "If we need to change our procedures to ensure full traceability of cloned cattle and their offspring in the UK, then we will work with our European partners to ensure that this happens."

drive from www.guardian.co.uk