Cloned beef in food chain spreads alarm in Britain

News that meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cattle - illegal to sell in without proper authorization - may have made their way into the U.K. food chain has set hands wringing in Britain, a country still sensitive from its experience with mad cow disease.

And while scientists made the rounds of breakfast TV shows to assure consumers that the products were safe, the flap illustrates what industry-watchers say are the pressures and regulatory loopholes pushing meat taken from the progeny of clones and genetically engineered foods into the European market, whether citizens like it or not - or even know about it.

Food safety officials said Wednesday they are investigating how a bull from the embryo of a cloned U.S. cow came to be slaughtered and eaten in Britain, where farmers must apply to sell such meat. They're also investigating whether milk from a cow bred from a clone made its way into the food chain.

Britain's Food Standards Agency and leading scientists say there are no safety concerns about such milk and meat - but the...