Shock revelations of cloned cow meat sold in Britain; FSA investigates
The food industry is in turmoil this week as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced that they have launched an urgent investigation into claims that the offspring of a cloned cow has been sold and eaten in the UK.
The FSA released a statement on its website identifying the farm where the controversy originated as Newmeadow farm, one of the largest farming businesses in Scotland. The statement also says that two bulls were born in the UK from embryos harvested from a cloned cow in the US, and that only one of these was stopped from entering the food chain. The other, according to the FSA website - "entered the food chain and will have been eaten."
Although an illegal practice, the FSA is assuring consumers that meat from cloned animals or their children is no different to that of conventionally bred animals, and is therefore safe to eat. This is the latest research from the European Food Safety Authority (in 2008), although researchers admit that the evidence base they have to work from is still relatively small.
This latest scandal comes after it was revealed by the media that milk from the offspring of cloned cows is on sale in the UK. In response to this and the latest food safety scare over cloned meat, the FSA has issued a reminder to high-level food job workers and operators in the UK that they have a responsibility to ensure that the food they produce adheres to UK law.
The investigation into the cloned cow meat claims is still underway.
The FSA released a statement on its website identifying the farm where the controversy originated as Newmeadow farm, one of the largest farming businesses in Scotland. The statement also says that two bulls were born in the UK from embryos harvested from a cloned cow in the US, and that only one of these was stopped from entering the food chain. The other, according to the FSA website - "entered the food chain and will have been eaten."
Although an illegal practice, the FSA is assuring consumers that meat from cloned animals or their children is no different to that of conventionally bred animals, and is therefore safe to eat. This is the latest research from the European Food Safety Authority (in 2008), although researchers admit that the evidence base they have to work from is still relatively small.
This latest scandal comes after it was revealed by the media that milk from the offspring of cloned cows is on sale in the UK. In response to this and the latest food safety scare over cloned meat, the FSA has issued a reminder to high-level food job workers and operators in the UK that they have a responsibility to ensure that the food they produce adheres to UK law.
The investigation into the cloned cow meat claims is still underway.
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