FSA News Item, 3 August 2010
The Food Standards Agency has been investigating reports that products from the offspring of cloned animals have entered the UK food chain.
While there is no evidence that consuming products from healthy clones, or their offspring, poses a food safety risk, meat and products from clones and their offspring are considered novel foods and would therefore need to be authorised before being placed on the market.
The Agency’s investigation has been wide-reaching and has involved, among others, farming organisations, the dairy industry, local authorities and breed associations. Anyone with information relevant to our investigation should contact the FSA on: foodincidents@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
As part of this investigation, the Agency has traced two bulls born in the UK from embryos harvested from a cloned cow in the US. Both of these bulls have been slaughtered. The first, Dundee Paratrooper, was born in December 2006 and was slaughtered in July 2009. Meat from this animal entered the food chain and will have been eaten.
The second, Dundee Perfect, was born in March 2007 and was slaughtered on 27 July 2010. Meat from this animal has been stopped from entering the food chain.
The Agency is continuing its work on tracing the offspring of clones claimed to produce milk for the UK dairy industry. We have traced a single animal, Dundee Paradise, which is believed to be part of a dairy herd but at present we cannot confirm that milk from this animal has entered the food chain. As part of this investigation local authority officials are visiting the farm on which this herd is kept.
The Agency would like to remind food business operators of their responsibility to ensure food they produce is compliant with the law. In order to produce food products from clones or their offspring, a novel food application must be submitted and authorisation granted at a European level before any such food is placed on the market. The FSA is the UK authority responsible for accepting novel food applications. The penalty for failing to comply with the Novel Foods Regulations is a fine of up to £5,000.
The FSA is here to protect consumers and is committed to being open and transparent. An investigation is ongoing and we will provide updates when information becomes available and where it will not compromise our ongoing work.
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