A diet of somatic cell nuclear transfer cloned-cattle meat produced no toxic effects on behavioral or reproductive characteristics of F1 rats derived from dams fed on cloned-cattle meat

Background: The composition and nutritional value of meat and milk derived from cloned animals and their progeny has not been demonstrated to be different from normal animals, but possible food consumption risks that might arise from unidentified hazards remain. In this study, we investigated the effects of somatic cell nuclear transfer cloned‐cattle meat diet on the behavioral and reproductive characteristics of F1 rats derived from dams that were also fed on cloned‐cattle meat. Methods and results: F1 rats were divided into five diet groups with their dams: commercial pellets (control), pellets containing 5% (N‐5) and 10% (N‐10) of normal‐cattle meat, and diets containing 5% (C‐5) and 10% (C‐10) of cloned‐cattle meat. In most cases, the cloned‐cattle meat diet did not affect body weight and food consumption in both male and female F1 rats during 11 weeks, except for significantly higher body weight in both N‐5 and N‐10 (3–5 weeks, p