Safety of cloned animal products uncertain: EU agency

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's top food safety agency said on Thursday cloned animal products may not be safe and further study was needed, prompting another battle of conscience within the bloc over the merits of new technology.

"It is clear there are significant animal health and welfare issues for surrogate mothers and clones that can be more frequent and severe than for conventionally bred animals," Vittorio Silano, chair of EFSA's Scientific Committee, told reporters.

"For cattle and pigs, food safety concerns are considered unlikely. But we must acknowledge that the evidence base is still small. We would like to have a broader data base and we need further clarification."

In its initial response to the issue of cloning -- which many consumer and religious groups strongly oppose -- EFSA said in January that cloned animals could be safe to eat.

It also said it saw "no environmental impact" from animal cloning, which takes cells from an adult and fuses them with others before implanting them in a surrogate mother.

But when asked if cloned products such as meat and dairy would be safe for people to buy in European supermarkets, Dr. Dan Collins of EFSA said: "There are possible concerns ... there is an impact of animal health and welfare on food safety. We need more data."

For many years, new technologies with potential food uses have split EU countries down the middle, with one group calling for tolerance, acceptance and more research while the other urges caution and rejection until the science is more advanced.

In contrast to the United States, for example, EU citizens have been far more reluctant to embrace biotechnology, such as genetic modification developed to increase yields or boost crop resistance against certain pests.