Meat from cloned cow's offspring was in food chain

The Food Standards Agency last night said it had identified two bulls born in Britain from embryos harvested from a cloned animal from America.

It said meat from one of those animals "will have been eaten" while meat from the second animal was intercepted before it could be sold as meat.

The revelation came as the FSA continues to investigate reports that products from the offspring of cloned animals had entered Britain's food chain.

The probe was launched in the wake of claims a British farmer had admitted using milk in his daily production without labelling it as from the offspring of a cloned cow.

Last night the agency admitted it could still not confirm if any milk from the offspring of a clone had been sold illegally in Britain to shoppers who were unaware of its source.

A spokeswoman said: "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 July 27, 2010. Meat from this animal has been stopped from entering the food chain."

Work tracing the offspring of clones claimed to have produce milk for the dairy industry was continuing.

"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."

Under European law, foodstuffs, including milk, produced from cloned animals must pass a safety evaluation and gain authorisation before they are marketed. It is illegal to sell it for human consumption without it.

The new revelations will heap further pressure on the Government to tighten food security.

Farming groups insist that no danger exists from cloned food products, a viewpoint backed up by scientific studies by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority.

However Emma Hockridge, of the Soil Association, said GM foods pose risks to areas of animal welfare, ethics and public safety.