Health officials recently scrapped a 22-year-old policy that classified cloned meat as novel foods, removing pre-market safety assessments and allowing these products to be sold with no disclosure. 

The move has sparked surprise in the US, after it was revealed that similar products have quietly been on shelves for years without labels. 

The FDA approved meat and milk from cloned cattle, swine and goats, along with their offspring, in January 2008. 

Nearly two decades later, many Americans are only now realizing that cloned meat is part of the food supply. 

Social media users have reacted with shock and disbelief, calling the situation unacceptable. 

Some argued that if cloned meat is allowed, it must at least be clearly labeled with its origin and production method. 

Others claimed they had unknowingly purchased cloned products and suggested the FDA had failed American consumers. 

Many Americans oppose cloned meat due to concerns about animal welfare, food safety, and ethical or religious objections. 

Opponents have highlighted the high rates of suffering in the animals, including health problems and miscarriages, and the risk of antibiotics or hormones entering the food supply. 

Ethical objections often include a general unease with the technology and fears that it could lead to human cloning. 

Even more, cloned meat is not allowed for food production in Europe due to a ban on the cloning of farm animals and the sale of products derived from them.

The process to make cloned meat begins with the creation of a genetically identical copy of a 'desirable' animal. 

That is then bred through normal reproduction, and its offspring eventually enter the food chain as meat, without shoppers having any way to know.

Health Canada has planned to roll out the change next year. 

The move has sparked outrage from duBreton, a major Certified Humane and organic pork producer, which sounded the alarm to consumers, saying: 'People have the right to choose for themselves.