Reports that milk from a cloned cow's offspring is on sale in the UK are being investigated.

The International Herald Tribune reported an unnamed British dairy farmer had said he used milk from a cow produced from a cloned parent as part of his daily production.

Foodstuffs produced from cloned animals must get approval before being sold.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it had not approved the milk, labelled a "novel food", and would investigate.

The agency, which is the UK body responsible for the assessment of so-called novel foods produced by cloned animals and their offspring, said it had not been asked to consider any such cases.

A spokeswoman said: "Since 2007 the FSA interpretation of the law has been that meat and products from clones and their offspring are considered novel foods and would therefore need to be authorised before being placed on the market.

"The agency has not received any applications relating to cloning and no authorisations have been made.

"The agency will ... investigate any reports of unauthorised novel foods entering the food chain."

The RSPCA is one of a number of organisations that opposes cloning for food production, with the charity's opposition on animal welfare and ethical grounds.

"Cloning has huge potential to cause unnecessary pain, suffering and distress which cannot be justified by purely commercial benefits," a spokesman said.

"Food from cloned animals may seem a tasty option for some, but it leaves a distinctly bad taste in the mouth when it comes to animal welfare."

He added that cloning was "inefficient" and - if it became routine - could "greatly reduce genetic diversity within livestock populations, increasing the chances of whole herds being wiped out by disease".

Last month MEPs voted in favour of a law that would ban cloned meat and other animal products in the European food supply.

The legislation faces a next stage of consideration in September before it could become EU law.

Source : bbc.co.uk