Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked companies that have cloned animals not to introduce the animals, their offspring, or milk or eggs into either human or animal milk supplies, the agency recently orchestrated a series of meetings among academics, food industry representatives and public interest groups to discuss "science-based" safety issues surrounding animal biotechnology.
Conducted by the National Research Council, the late-November meetings were scheduled to target a number of issues, from animal welfare and environmental concerns to the safety of cloned food. The majority of meetings were conducted behind closed doors, and resulting information will be included in a report to FDA.