Cloned meat has entered the food chain.

[silviana]

As this story shows, meat from cloned animals has already been sold in the UK and almost certainly eaten. Whilst I can understand people's desire to be informed about exactly what they are eating, can anyone tell me why it's undesirable to eat this meat? As I understand it, animals are already pumped full of hormones and antibiotics anyway, so what's the difference? (I eat very little meat, by the way).

[Delightful]

Well I think it's more just a matter of consumers having a choice to decide if they want to eat the cloned meat or not instead of feeding it to an unsuspecting public.

[foureyes]

There is a lot of concern and controversy over whether the cloned cells are identical to the original or not. People are concerned that the cells might be different somehow. I can understand the concern as this hasn't been followed through and tested thoroughly.

[umpty]

Ok here is a question, if I clone myself can I eat myself and not be considered a cannibal? I think cloned meat is fine I just wonder how safe it is to eat.

[Isis]

Does it say on the package that it is cloned meat? That is something that really bothers me, to think that I would be buying that and feeding it to my family.

[silviana]

It seems as though there is no indication that it is cloned meat. The farmer in Inverness who sold it was unaware (he claims) that he was doing anything wrong but if he hadn't said anything it is doubtful if anyone would have known about it. What is most worrying is that it would seem that anything can get into the food chain because there are no real controls.

[Charlie]

I have no issue with this. I just don't see the harm from a biological point of view. I was surprised to hear that it had happened because I don't see why a farm had the cloned animals, but yeah, it wouldn't have worried me.

[September]

Of all the issues I have with food - ethical concerns about large agribusiness, concerns about pesticide/fertilizer use and pollution, concerns about food transportation and the toll that takes on the environment, and concerns about some GMO strains - the clone issue has got to come in dead last.

Also, the article loses some credibility with me when its infographic claims that only eight embryos were implanted and all of them resulted in a live birth. Even human IVF technologies haven't advanced to the point where they have that sort of success rate.