A cloned cow has given birth to eight calves in Britain and there are no clear restrictions on the animals being used in food in the UK. But public opinion is strongly against eating anything derived from clones, research has found.

The calves are the offspring of a cow which was cloned in a US laboratory from a prize-winning animal. It gave birth to two Holsteins, named Dundee Paradise and and Dundee Paratrooper, last year. It has since given birth to six more calves.

But any attempt to sell their milk commercially will run up against widespread public unease, according to research carried out for the Food Standards Agency. Consumers are concerned about the safety, quality and price of food from cloned animals and characterised the process as "interfering with mother nature".

Four groups of people from around the country, interviewed at length on their views, expressed worries about animal welfare, and believed products from cloned animals should undergo extensive tests, similar to clinical trials, before being allowed on the market.

Dr Steve Griggs, who conducted the research, said: "Most participants felt animal cloning represented a quantum leap from giving mother a helping hand to interfering with nature. They struggled to find any benefit in the technique at all for consumers."

Consumers were particularly concerned about the animal welfare implications in particular high incidence of miscariage of cloned animals, birth defects and poor survival rate after birth. They also felt scientists were rushing ahead with the procedures and they were powerless to do anything about it.

"Most people were concerned that cloning could result in food unsafe for human consumption. They was a fear that the process itself might create new diseases or affect the food in some way that it would be harmful to humans,"Dr Griggs said.

"They thought there was a major mismatch between the methods of the regulating authorities to assess food safety and the public perception of what is needed. They wanted something analagous to clinical drug trials over five to 10 years."

The research has highlighted the obstacles to clone-derived food being served up from British kitchens. Dr Griggs suggested that any food manufacturer or supermarket wishing to sell meat from cloned animals or offspring of clones would have a lot of trouble convincing people to eat it and many supermarkets have said they would not stock such products.

This is likely to make cloned animals an unattractive commercial proposition when farmers are paying top prices for cloned embryos.

The groups surveyed believed any food derived from cloned animals should be clearly labelled, raising the question of how far removed an animal has to be from a cloned ancestor to be considered normal.

Although the British calves are not themselves clones, the research found public attitudes did not make the distinction.

"it appeared that they would feel as uncomfortable buying and consuming food derived from the offspring of clones as they would about food derived directly from clones," the report said.

Four of the animals were born at Smiddiehill Holsteins farm in Shropshire. A worker at the farm told Times Online: "I don't see any reason at all for concern. At the end of the day they're just normal healthy calves that will grow into normal healthy cows".

He claimed however, that public fears had reduced the value of the calves "megastyle", from GBP 10,000 to as little as GBP1,000. He said that the farm was no longer breeding cattle.

Bioindustry groups have promoted cloning as a way to improve the bloodlines of British herds quickly and efficiently but they have been vigorously opposed by campaigning groups.

Food from cloned animals cannot currently be sold. Their offspring, however, are a grey area. Although there are no specific laws preventing their sale, the FSA said it would expect farmers to seek clarification first. There have not been any requests so far and the body is awaiting guidelines from the European Food Safety Authority, expected this summer. A draft report found no evidence of food safety risks.

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