Originally Reported by By ANDREW POLLACK AND ANDREW MARTIN of THE NEW YORK TIMES.

The Food and Drug Administration of America ruled on Thursday, via an almost 700-page “draft risk assessment” that milk and meat from some cloned farm animals are safe to eat. The ruling has caused intense criticism from consumer groups and from meat and dairy companies who have all raised concerns.

The ruling has been hailed by cloning companies and from some farmers and breeders who already have made clones of their prized livestock but have not yet had the chance to put their meat on the market. All insist that cloning is just another breeding technique, like artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization.