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The European Commission vowed on Monday to consult with consumers about meat and milk from cloned animals, eager to avert a crisis over so-called "Frankenfoods."
Reigniting fears about hi-tech foods, the European Food Safety Authority said Friday that meat and milk from healthy cattle and pig clones was probably safe for human consumption.
However, Commission spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki played down the conclusion as a "preliminary report" and said "we will ask Europeans what they think about cloning before giving our opinion in May 2008."
Papadoulaki said that the European Union's executive arm would wait for the final report from EFSA as well as a Eurobarometer survey of public opinion and then "we will think about any potential measures to take."
"You can't criticise the European Commission by saying that we don't care what Europeans think," she said.
EFSA's report on cloning comes amid growing concerns about genetically modified plants in Europe, with France deciding last week to ban a strain of GM maize and Austria under pressure to lift restrictions it already has in place, to comply with a WTO ruling.
Following EFSA's report, an influential Italian farmers union on Monday said meat and milk from cloned animals would pose an "unacceptable risk" to consumers.
"We are prepared to mobilise strongly to prevent such a frightening reality from reaching our dinner tables, something that is not needed by either European companies or consumers," Coldiretti president Sergio Marini said on the group's website.
Also up in arms, the Belgian consumers association Test Achat said: "We shouldn't play the sorcerer's apprentice."
