Meat and milk from offspring of cloned animals should be sold WITHOUT labels, say EU officials

• European Commission proposals would ban sale of food from clones
• But there would be no controls on food from their sons and daughters
• Proposals would keep families in the dark about what they are eating

By SEAN POULTER

PUBLISHED: 17:44 GMT, 18 December 2013 | UPDATED: 17:44 GMT, 18 December 2013

Meat and milk from the offspring of clone farm animals should be allowed on to supermarket shelves without labels, according to EU officials.

The proposals, which would keep families in the dark about what they are eating, were outlined today in a move that was condemned by consumer groups.

The idea of cloning animals for food may seem bizarre and akin to science fiction, however it is possible that beef and milk from the offspring of clones is already being imported here from the USA and other countries.

Separately, the Daily Mail has revealed attempts to rear clone animal offspring in the UK to produce milk for breakfast tables dating back to 2008.

It emerged three years ago that a Scottish farmer had purchased two bulls, which were the sons of a clone, and then bred 92 Holstein milking cows from them.

Initially, he planned to sell the milk in the UK, however following a consumer backlash, he decided to destroy more than 40  of the cows and exported around 30 to Portugal.

Attempts to breed clones in the past has been associated with an increased risk of miscarriage and malformed organs. There is also a problem of 'gigantism', with new-borns so large they have to be removed by Caesarean section.

Some animals, including the original clone Dolly the Sheep, created by the Roslyn Institute in Scotland, suffer the early onset of crippling arthritis.

FULL STORY: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525910/Meat-milk-offspring...