Agriculture: Farmer condemns delay over ruling on cloned animals

Steven Innes, who bought two bulls born to a cloned cow and allowed meat from one of them to enter the food chain, said it was difficult to see how there could be a difference in the taste of meat or milk from the offspring of cloned livestock.

His comments come after a Government advisory committee said produce from cattle bred from cloned cows was safe to eat.

Mr Innes, whose farm in Auldearn near Inverness, Scotland is one of the biggest dairy farms in the area, said: "Where they are now with research on this is where they should have been back in August. It's already happening across the world."

He also highlighted difficulties in labelling products from such animals.

"I don't know how it would be possible to label all food of that kind, given imports into the country," he added.

"Those would also have to be labelled."

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) launched an investigation in August after it emerged one of Mr Innes's bulls had been slaughtered and its meat sold in the UK.

The FSA found meat from three animals reached the shelves without being authorised under the Novel Food Regulations.

Under European law, foodstuffs – including milk – produced from cloned animals must pass a safety evaluation and get approval before they are marketed.

On Thursday the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes found no difference between produce from cloned animals or their offspring, and those bred normally.

The committee also noted more evidence was needed to show how rearing animals in different environments may affect the meat and milk.