Two biotech companies will soon announce a cloned-meat tracking program aimed at easing the fears of distributors and consumers cautious over selling and buying milk and meat derived from cloned animals. ViaGen Inc. and Trans Ova Genetics, which together produce 75 percent of cloned animals released to food suppliers, have reportedly worked with distributors and retailers in the new program?s development.

The program will allow retailers who do not want to sell cloned meat to know for certain that they are not selling it, while offering the same clarification to consumers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved the sale of cloned-animal food products in the United States, but according to spokeswoman Julie Zawisza, that decision is coming.

?The approach proposed by industry is interesting in that it provides a way for food from clones to enter the food supply while also allowing for consumer preference for those individuals who would prefer not to eat food from clones,? she said.

Source: Jane Zhang, ?Program Tracks Cloned Food,? The Wall Street Journal, December 19, 2007.