Many Europeans recoil at the very idea of cloning animals. But a handful of breeders in Switzerland, Britain and possibly other countries have imported semen and embryos from cloned animals or their progeny from the United States, seeking to create more consistently plump and productive livestock. And although no vendor has publicly acknowledged it, meat or dairy products originating from such techniques are believed to be already on supermarket shelves. The amounts are no doubt small, and the sale appears to be legal. But the development is noteworthy on a continent that has long objected to genetically modified crops and where many people look at animal cloning as potentially dangerous and cruel -- even immoral. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration declared in 2008 that food from cloned cattle, pigs, goats and their progeny was safe to eat. (Cloned sheep were left off the list, but their progeny were declared OK). The Agriculture Department, however, has asked farmers to voluntarily keep all direct clones out of the food supply for an unspecified period so it can manage a 'smooth and orderly' transition to market. In Europe, government officials say that anyone who wanted to market meat or dairy products from clones would need to seek permission under the European Union's 'novel foods' regulations, which were generally meant to cover newly developed ingredients. So far, no one has. Meat and dairy products from the offspring of clones, however, currently receive no prior assessment or approval. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health reported in a relatively obscure part of its website that 'dairy products and meat derived from such animals have probably been used in food, then sold in Switzerland.' 'Other countries in Europe face the same situation,' it said. The technique has even infiltrated one of the Continent's most ancient traditions: in May, one of Spain's grandest breeders produced the first cloned fighting bull. 'It's absolutely historic, and it's remarkable that we achieved this with the symbol of Spain,' said Julio Cesar Diez, a veterinarian who worked on the project. Got, as the bull was named, will never face a matador -- or end up on a dinner plate. He is expected to spend his life a stud, siring other bulls for the ring for the Guardiola family, which has bred the Pedraja line of bulls in the region of Seville for several generations. At today's prices, the family could expect to make around 1.5 million euros ($2 million) from selling the bulls that Got fathers. Much bigger stakes are in sight for the meat and dairy industry, which argues that cloning can give more farmers access to star animals with leaner meat, bigger milking potential and enhanced disease resistance. Far from being outlandish, they say, cloning is among a number of breeding techniques that are becoming mainstays of the industry. 