FDA's approval of cloned foods may lead to labeling controversy.

The Associated Press says that meat and milk from cloned animals may not appear in supermarkets for years despite being deemed by the government as safe to eat. But don't be surprised if "clone-free" labels appear sooner. For food that does come from clones, FDA is unlikely to require labels, officials

The FDA gave preliminary approval last month to meat and milk from cloned animals or their offspring. Federal scientists found virtually no difference between food from clones and food from conventional livestock. If food from clones is indistinguishable, FDA doesn't have the authority to require labels.

Companies trying to distance themselves from cloning must be careful with their wording, he added. "If the statement implies that that particular product might be safer than another product, FDA would not allow that," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "But there may be room for providing a contextual statement that is truthful and not misleading," he added.

A dairy industry group said it's too early to use clone-free labels. The FDA is at least a year away from finalizing approval of food from clones. "It really may be somewhat premature to be talking about a label when FDA said meat and milk won't be in the food supply in the foreseeable future," said Susan Ruland, spokeswoman for the International Dairy Foods Association.

Critics want the final decision to include labels for food from clones. "When they deny us mandatory labels, they don't just deny us the right to choose," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety. "They also deny our health professionals the ability to trace potential toxic or allergic reactions to this food," Kimbrell said. "It's bad enough they're making us guinea pigs. But when we have health effects, we won't be able to trace it."

Incoming House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said lawmakers should consider whether disclosure and labeling are appropriate for food from clones.

As for the cloned food itself, opponents note that the animals harbor subtle molecular differences in their DNA as a result of having been produced from a single parent. They also point to higher rates of problems during fetal development, resulting in birth defects and a high miscarriage rate, which in turn poses risks to the surrogate mother.

Some also question the economic sense of using cloning to make super-productive dairy cows. Carol Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America said U.S. farmers produce more milk than Americans can drink, and the government must buy the surplus. "Since 1999, dairy support programs have cost taxpayers over $5 billion," she said in a statement.