More than 100 cows descended from cloned cattle have been born on British farms, sparking alarm about their secret spread into the food system.
An investigation has been launched after a farmer claimed milk from a cow born to a clone had gone into high street shops without any special labelling.
The Daily Mail has now learnt at least 105 Holstein cattle descended from a clone have been born on British farms in the past four years.
The Food Standards Agency watchdog doesn’t even know where the cows at the centre of the investigation are, it has emerged, because the body responsible for registering all pedigree cows and bulls on farms, Holstein UK, would not disclose the information.
The Mail revealed yesterday that milk from the direct offspring of a clone had been put on shelves, despite this being illegal.
Eight of these direct offspring of the same cloned cow have been born in Britain, and they have gone on to produce a further 97 animals, and very probably more.
Worryingly for opponents of clone farming, there is currently no legislation against meat and milk from this next generation being supplied to UK consumers without special labelling.
Animals descended from clones of prizewinning cattle are sought after by some farmers because they are supersized and able to produce vast quantities of milk.
But critics claim the health effects on humans of clone or clone-descended produce are not yet clear.
There are also ethical and animal welfare arguments against remodelling nature in the laboratory.
Animals involved in cloning suffer pain and ill-health linked to miscarriages, organ defects and gigantism, according to a 2008 European Food Safety Authority report.
Cloned animals can be so large that they have to be cut from their surrogate mothers via caesarean section.
The number of ‘clone farm’ cows are in Britain highlights how food production is being irrevocably changed without public debate or effective policing.
As each generation matures, breeds and produces its own milk, so it will become impossible to avoid those foods which have a clone farm background.
Holstein UK spokesman Simon Gee said he could not reveal which farmers owned the clone-descended cattle, explaining: ‘We are a private members organisation, we cannot pass on their details to a third party.’
He insisted that the farmers had assured him they have not put milk from the animals into the food chain. However, he admitted this had not been independently verified.
Critics warn that just as genetically modified crops, or ‘Frankenstein Food’ was initially rushed into supermarkets without consultation, so the same is happening with clone farming.
Only a consumer backlash halted GM until rigorous tests to look at the impact on human health and the countryside could be established, with each crop now having to go through safety assessments.
Last night, the Soil Association, which campaigns for organic farming, called for the Government and the FSA, its official food watchdog, to act with ‘utmost urgency’ to block clone farming.
Its head of policy, Emma Hockridge, said: ‘Cloning involves applying invasive and cruel techniques on the surrogate mothers. Many deformed animals are created and die for each surviving healthy clone.
‘There are a number of other concerns - about the safety of meat and dairy products from cloned animals; that the use of clones will reduce genetic diversity within agriculture, that the use of clones will promote the development and spread of animal diseases, as well as concerns about the ethics of cloning.’
However, the National Farmers Union rejected safety concerns and said Britain should keep the door open to the controversial technology.
At the same time, a number of leading scientists suggested the cloning of farm animals could improve food quality.
The FSA says it is illegal for meat and milk from clones or their immediate offspring to go into the human food chain.
Recently Euro MPs voted for a total ban on these products across the EU on the grounds of concern for the welfare of the cloned animals.
However, there is no law to stop farmers using clones and their offspring for breeding. Embryos are taken from the clones of prize-winning Holstein cattle in the U.S. and flown to the UK where they are implanted in cows.
Shopper studies have identified serious unease about the use of cloned animals in food production.
Dairy UK said: ‘This is the first instance where there has been any suggestion of milk associated with cloned animals being used in production and we are liaising closely with the FSA. Milk and meat from the offspring of clones does not present any food safety risk.’
The RSPCA said: ‘Farm animals are already seen by some as commodities rather than sentient beings and cloning compounds this view, resulting in less concern for animal welfare and less willingness to address welfare issues.’ By Sean Poulter, Daily Mail
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