WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government ruled on Tuesday that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring is as safe as other food, but pressed firms that produce clones to hold off on bringing them into the food supply.

Let's have a vote- who wants to eat/drink this stuff?

here's a great comment from Mike Rivero from WRH

Yeah, well, the FDA thought VIOXX was safe, too.

Here is the problem. Clones are NOT exact copies. Cloned animals like Dolly the sheep have demonstrated that current cloning techniques are far less than 100% accurate. In other words, there are genetic transcription errors taking place, such that the genes are artificially mutated from source animal to the clone. The effects of these transcription errors are usually visible only at the biochemistry level. But the fact is that short of killing the clone and running a full assay, one cannot rule out the production of altered enzymes and proteins which may be harmless to the clone, but harmful to consumers who consume the products from that animal.

rest of Reuters story follows
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"Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any subtle hazards that might indicate food consumption risks in healthy clones of cattle, swine or goats," the Food and Drug Administration said in a final risk assessment that confirmed preliminary findings from 2006.

The FDA said it did not have enough information to make an assertion about cloned sheep.

The ruling was the latest twist after years of debate over the reproductive technology, which advocates say will provide consumers with top-quality food by replicating prized animals that can breed highly productive offspring.

The cloning industry, made up so far of only a handful of firms, expects that it will be the offspring of cloned animals, not the costly clones themselves, that would eventually provide meat or milk to U.S. consumers.

There are currently about 570 cloned animals in the United States, but the livestock industry has so far followed a voluntary ban on marketing food from the animals.

Yet even as the FDA unveiled its final assessment, the Agriculture Department asked the cloning industry to extend that ban during a "transition" period.

USDA said it will reach out to livestock producers, cloning firms, trading partners and others to lay a smooth path for selling clone-derived food in the future.

It could take four or five years before consumers are able to buy products derived from cloned animals.

able to buy (LoL!)

FUTURE HURDLES?

While scientific studies appear to support the cloning industry's claims that the technology is safe, the topic remains controversial even within the agriculture industry.

Some dairy firms oppose cloning, betting that consumers will shun goods they see linked to cloning technology.

Others believe that more investigation is needed before concluding that cloning is safe -- especially after a year in which consumer confidence was marred by numerous food scares -- or oppose it on moral or religious grounds.

"Despite widespread public disapproval, FDA is not planning to require labeling of products from cloned animals, keeping already wary consumers in the dark," Food and Water Watch, an advocacy group, said in a statement.

Greg Jaffe, director of biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the cloning industry must now convince the public why cloning is useful.

"Just because the technology is safe, it doesn't mean that as a society there is reason to embrace it," he said.

Jaffe expects Congress or some states may try to impose additional restrictions on marketing or labeling.

The Senate has passed a measure that would delay FDA approval until the completion of more studies.

Several major food companies quickly stated that they are not signing up, at least right away. Tyson Foods Inc, the largest U.S. meat producer, said on Tuesday it has no immediate plans to buy cloned livestock.

The FDA cloning decision comes as biotechnology becomes an ever more important part of global agriculture.

Last week, the European Food Safety Authority made an interim ruling about food from cloned animals and their offspring, saying it was unlikely there was any difference from food derived from traditionally bred animals.

(Additional reporting by Bob Burgdorfer in Chicago and Maggie Fox in Washington; editing by Russell Blinch and Matthew Lewis)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080115/hl_nm/cloning_food_dc