By Angus Dalton
A conspiracy-fuelled uproar about a feed additive that slashes the amount of methane belched and farted by cows has flared in the UK as consumers dump milk down sinks and toilets in protest at a new trial of the substance.
The additive Bovaer is approved for use in Australia. Coles stocks carbon-neutral beef products sourced from cows that are fed it.
A conspiracy-fuelled uproar over cattle feed additive Bovaer has reached Australia.
Unfounded claims that Bovaer is toxic and carcinogenic swept social media after the UK’s biggest dairy co-operative, Arla, announced it had partnered with Aldi, Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets to trial the additive on 30 farms.
Users leapt on the fact that UK and European food safety regulators found Bovear’s active ingredient, 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), could be considered a human skin irritant and corrosive to the eyes when handled by workers.
But both reviews concluded the substance was safe for cows and consumers.
Nevertheless, the furore hit Australia on Tuesday, sparking Meat and Livestock Australia to assure customers in a statement that “their favourite beef is safe to consume”.
Meanwhile, Australian milk company Norco declared its dairy farms don’t use the product.
“Thank you for NOT poisoning us,” read one of the top-liked comments on the Facebook statement.
When asked why the statement was necessary, Norco chief executive Michael Hampson said: “Based on public interest around the use of Bovaer, it was important that we made a statement of pure fact, which is that none of our farmers are using Bovaer.”
Other social media users have referenced an approval letter sent by the US Food and Drug Administration that noted Bovaer “may damage male fertility and reproductive organs”.
A small-scale experiment found large doses of the substance, well above the amount given to cows, reduced sperm production in rats. But there is no evidence it affects reproduction in humans or cows, Bovaer’s manufacturer, DSM-Firmenich, said.
There is little risk for consumers in any case, experts said, because the substance does not pass into milk or meat.
3-NOP breaks down rapidly in cows’ digestive systems into another substance called 3-NOPA, which mostly disappears within three hours, said environmental toxicologist Professor Alastair Hay from the University of Leeds.
“Tests have been done on the milk of animals receiving 3-NOP and no metabolites were detected,” Hay said. “There is no evidence to suggest that at the doses approved for use in animals that the additive is a risk to humans through consumption of milk.”
DSM-Firmenich said the announcement of new trials into the additive “caused mistruths and misinformation about its safety”.
The company also distanced itself from Bill Gates after conspiracy theorists tied the billionaire to Bovaer. Gates is not involved, but he did invest in Australian startup Rumin8, which is developing another methane-busting supplement.
One gram of Bovaer per 20 kilograms of cow feed can slash methane emissions by 30 to 45 per cent, according to DSM.
Methane is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a driver of global warming, and livestock contributes 70 per cent of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
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