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Europe is set for a rerun of the heated debate over genetically modified “Frankenfoods”, after regulators declared on Friday that meat and milk from cloned pigs and cows and their offspring were safe to eat.The finding comes as GM foods are about to reignite trade friction between the US and European Union, with a deadline set to expire on Friday night by which the EU must comply with a World Trade Organisation ruling to allow imports of GM seeds.While it could be years before meat and milk from cloned animals are on dinner plates in the EU, the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) issued a “draft opinion” that such livestock and their products were as healthy and nutritious as their natural-born kin. “Healthy clones and healthy offspring do not show any significant differences from their conventional counterparts,” it said.Efsa has invited views on its opinion before drawing up a definitive conclusion in May. Its deliberations come as the Food & Drug Agency in the US is expected to reach a final decision on the issue, possibly next week.The developments would boost a handful of US biotechnology companies that have been working on cloning animals, mainly cattle, for the past four years. They say cloning would help farmers by increasing the availability of elite breeding stock.Europe is already sharply divided over GM food, dubbed “Frankenfood” by opponents, with just one product-a pest-resistant maize-approved for cultivation. Austria and Hungary have banned even that and France is set to follow suit.In the US, consumer acceptance of plant biotechnology in foods is high.Acceptance of biotechnologically altered animal produce is much lower, although a survey last year by the International Food Information Council showed that 61 per cent would purchase products derived from genetically engineered animals if they were FDA-approved.In a sign of possible unprecedented congressional involvement in the process, Democratic senator Barbara Mikulski has called on the FDA to delay its final decision about cloning, pending further scientific tests. “We do not know enough about the long-term effects of introducing cloned animals, or their offspring, into our food supply. What’s the rush?” she asked.Following Friday’s scientific report from Efsa, the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies expects to deliver its report on Wednesday about the ethical and practical effects of approving food from cloned animals.The gulf between attitudes across the Atlantic on GM crops has already led to a trade spat with Washington, which won a WTO ruling in 2004 that the EU was illegally blocking GM produce. European farmers said they were not seeking to use cloning but feared a loss of competitiveness if the US went ahead and imports were allowed. “It is essential to inform the consumers and citizens about the state of play already and not wait until this new technology is on the shelves,” said Pekka Pesonen, secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca, which represents them.Friends of the Earth said the Efsa ruling was “unsatisfactory” because there was a shortage of scientific evidence. As in the days of Noah...
