FDA expected to approve cloned meat

NEW YORK - The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to declare as early as next week that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring can be sold to the public, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
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The FDA had previously stated such products were safe to eat in a preliminary assessment in December of 2006. But the agency asked producers of cloned livestock not to sell food products from such animals pending its final ruling, the Journal said on its website.

The decision would come after more than six years of wrestling with the question.

The decision is expected to generate intense opposition from some consumer groups. Even the food industry itself is divided over the issue. Some big food companies contend the concept is too new and controversial, and they will not, at least initially, market such products.

The Journal also reported that most of the cloned animals will be used for breeding, and it will be three to five years before most consumers see milk and meat from their offspring.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/04/fda_expected_to_approve_cloned_meat/