The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs, and goats and from the offspring of clones of any species traditionally used as food. It said that such meat and milk was “as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals.”

The FDA said that its conclusions agreed with those of a report from the National Academy of Sciences in 2002 and had been peer reviewed by independent scientific experts in cloning and animal health.

There was “insufficient information . . . to reach a conclusion on the safety of food from clones of other animal species, such as sheep,” the FDA said, and it recommended that food from clones of animals other than cattle, pigs, and goats was not introduced into the food supply.

“The US Department of Agriculture will …