Getting Some Clarity on Cloned Meats, their Availability and Safety
Posted:
2026-03-02
.jpg)
What’s happening?
The Canadian public has expressed concern over transparency and consumer choice in the regulation and sale of cloned meats. A recent Global News article (1) was a source leading to this trending topic review by the PEN Team.
Cloned meat refers to meat from the cloned offspring that was created by genetic copying of an animal through a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) (2). This creates a genetic twin of a donor animal, that is born and grows up like any other animal. Cloned meat is not lab-grown or cultured meat (3).
Sylvain Charlebois, director at Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, stated that, “The science is pretty clear from a food safety perspective. There shouldn’t be any concerns at all,” he said. “There’s actually a lot of literature on this issue the last 25 years. But the science is not really the problem here. It’s the silence, really, I think (1).”
What does science say?
Canadian scientific opinion agrees with the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Food Safety Authority (ESFA), Japan Food Safety Commission (JFSC) and New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) that foods from healthy SCNT-derived cattle and swine clones and their offspring are as safe as foods from traditionally bred animals (2,4). In addition, there are no known significant nutritional or health differences between meat from cloned-offspring animals and meat from traditionally bred animals (2). However, less is known about the long-term effects on health and fertility of SCNT animal clones.
Policy & Safety
Australia
“Food from cloned animals and their progeny does not require pre-market approval in Australia and New Zealand before entering the food supply and no special labelling requirements apply. However, like all foods, foods from cloned animals must comply with existing food laws, including relevant standards in the Food Standards Code” (5).
Canada
In Canada, SCNT animal clones, their offspring and derived products follow the same health and safety regulations that apply to conventional animals (and their derived products) provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada (HC) (2).
In 2025, HC and CFIA wanted to remove cloned cattle and swine from the “novel food” category, taking away the need for specific food labelling (6). However, due to industry and public feedback, HC has indefinitely suspended a proposed update to the novel food policy governing foods derived from cloned cattle and swine, as well as their offspring (4,6). Currently, no foods from cloned products are approved for market in Canada. If they were introduced, they would be subject to a novel food assessment that requires a rigorous pre-market safety assessment prior to being approved for sale.
USA
The FDA, after extensive review, concluded that food from cattle, swine, and goat clones and the offspring of the clones was as safe to eat as food from animals of those species derived by conventional means (7,8). They do not require food from cloned animals or their offspring to be labelled. Of interest, in 2008 after FDA approval of cloned meats, a follow-up consumer web-based survey found that overall consumers were concerned that animal cloning is an unnatural process and that it will lead to human cloning (9).
Bottom line
Scientific reviews deem cloned meats safe to eat. However, many consumers are concerned about the sale of products without special labelling that get approved and enter the food supply.
To stay informed, dietitians can guide consumers by monitoring government websites to stay abreast of policy decisions on cloned meats. For consumers wanting to know specifically where their food comes from, they can be directed to shop only at places where there are assurances of food origins, including buying directly from farms and advocating to their governments for adequate food labelling.
References
- Misra P. If cloned meat enters the food supply, will Canadians know? Global News. November 15, 2025. Available from: https://globalnews.ca/news/11527780/cloned-meat-food-supply-canada/
- Health Canada. Scientific opinion on the impact of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cloning of cattle and swine on food and feed safety, animal health and the environment. November 21, 2023. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consulation-food-derived-somatic-cell-nuclear-transfer-clones-offspring-policy-update/scientific-opinion.html
- Government of Canada. Cellular Agriculture. Available from: 2024-07-24. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/cellular-agriculture.html
- Health Canada. Proposed policy update on foods derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) clones and their offspring. 2025-11-19. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consulation-food-derived-somatic-cell-nuclear-transfer-clones-offspring-policy-update/policy-statement.html
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Food from cloned animals. 2021. Available from: https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/foodtech/clone
- Government of Canada. Share your thoughts: Foods derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer clones and their offspring policy update – Closed consultation. 2025-11-19. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/programs/consulation-food-derived-somatic-cell-nuclear-transfer-clones-offspring-policy-update.html
- Rudenko L, Matheson JC. The US FDA and animal cloning: risk and regulatory approach. Theriogenology. 2007 Jan 1;67(1):198-206. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2006.09.033. Epub 2006 Oct 19. PMID: 17055042. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17055042/
- FDA. FDA's Response to Public Comment on the Animal Cloning Risk Assessment, Risk Management Plan, and Guidance for Industry. 05-20-2021. Available from: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-cloning/fdas-response-public-comment-animal-cloning-risk-assessment-risk-management-plan-and-guidance#:~:text=Agency%20responses%20to%20these%20comments:&text=Because%20the%20risk%20assessment%20process,food%20we%20eat%20every%20day
- Brooks KR, Lusk JL. U.S. consumers attitudes toward farm animal cloning. Appetite. 2011 Oct;57(2):483-92. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2011.06.014. Epub 2011 Jun 29. PMID: 21736907. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21736907/
