Farm-fresh cloning

After seven years of study and some 30,000 public comments, the federal barrier is coming down on cloned meat and milk. A final 986-page report from the Food and Drug Administration finds that lab-grown farm animals are fit to eat.

It may be a scientific seal of approval, but the findings won't calm the public's queasiness. In surveys, many shoppers have no appetite for an edible item traced to cloning. This no-thanks number is likely higher in a foodie haven like the Bay Area.

No surprise, then, that federal authorities expect it will take from three to five years before cloned cattle, pigs and goats move from experimental confines to the broader market. That's enough time to see if public awareness and acceptance will wear down the skeptical reaction this far edge of breeding brings.

For starters, the cloned animals won't themselves be sold for barbecue steaks or bacon. These designed-for-perfection animals are too valuable and are likely to be used for breeding. The public will get a taste of the process through the offspring, bred the old-fashioned way.

Also worth noting is a European science review found essentially the same thing as the Washington inquiry. There's no evidence that cloned farm animals are unsafe, both said.