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Setback For Cloned Milk And Meat In European Market

The European Food Safety Authority, an independent advisory body, hedged on the safety of bringing milk and meat from cloned animals to market yesterday, making it less likely that such products could reach store shelves in Europe anytime soon. The EFSA had issued a draft report in January in which much less weight was given to the lack of scientific data about the issue.

The findings contrast with those of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In January, the FDA concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats were as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals. It asked the cloning industry to adhere to a voluntary moratorium on putting cloned products into the food chain to prepare for a smooth transition.

Karen Talbot, a spokeswoman for the authority, acknowledges that there is a change of emphasis in the new findings, which follow months of consultations. "The conclusions are not fundamentally different," she says, "but, after the consultation, they have acknowledged more clearly what they do know and what they don't know."

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