A Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) document that details the plan to mandate the use of ‘methane-suppressing feed products’ in English cattle has sparked concern on social media — due to claims the substance can leach into dairy, causing health problems. 

It comes after furious Brits have vowed to boycott more than a dozen makers of dairy products including Lurpak, over fears they are allegedly ‘contaminated’ with the additive, which has been questionably linked to cancer.

Shoppers originally focused on milks and butters made by Danish firm Arla after the company announced the launch of a trial that would see Bovaer given to its cows.

Bovaer is a dietary supplement for cattle that, when added to their food, helps reduce the amount of methane they produce in digestion, a gas that contributes to climate change. 

It has been declared a safe additive by both European and UK regulators as it doesn’t transfer into milk. 

Experts have also told MailOnline that customers do not have anything to worry about and that concerns about cancer risks are unfounded. 

However, social media is awash with claims it can cause fertility issues and cancer.

The row could now spill over to the entire farming industry, with the Government planning to mandate the use of Bovaer-like products by law on ‘suitable’ English farms ‘as soon as possible and no later than 2030’.

This commitment was made by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs last year, in a statement published by the then Conservative government led by former PM Rishi Sunak.

Then farming minister Mark Spencer said at the time: ‘We will continue to work closely with industry to develop a mature market and mandate the use of safe and effective methane suppressing feed products in suitable cattle systems in England as soon as feasible’.

The pledge was made as part of the plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in Britain by 2050, a goal that the current Labour Government has also committed to. 

In a separate document, discussing the use such additives in the dairy and beef industry, DEFRA stated that it considers methane suppressing feed products ‘an essential tool to de-carbonise the agricultural sector’.

Furore over Bovaer has led to social media users sharing a list of products and supermarkets that stock Arla products and calling for people to avoid them. 

This included Lurpak and Anchor butters – which are both manufactured by the company — and Tesco and Asda who stock own-brand milk supplied by Arla. 

The viral list, shared on X and Facebook, warns customers against purchasing Arla and its sub-brands Arla Cravendale, Arla BOB, Arla Protein and Arla Lactofree. 

Artisanal cheese brand Castello, Apetina — which sells white cheese and paneer — and Arla Organic are others that make the blacklist. 

It also warns consumers against brands who have partnerships with Arla Foods including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Ecomilk. 

Arla, it claims, produces ready-made chilled coffee drinks for Starbucks, while it also supplies dairy products for McDonald’s. 

Virtually all major supermarkets have also come under attack by shoppers and are named on the list.

They claim this is because Arla Foods produces products such as milk and cheese for some of their own-brand ranges like Asda. Other supermarkets stock Arla Foods products. 

Since the list began to circulate, scores of Brits have taken to TikTok to share clips of themselves pouring the dairy products down the toilet, and throwing them in the bin. 

In one video seen over 1.6million times, one man points to his bottle of Asda semi-skimmed milk which displays the label ‘sourced from Arla farms’. 

Bovaer is a compound made of silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and organic compound 3-nitrooxypropanol which is shortened to 3-NOP.

Concerns being spread online about the additive are mostly referencing documents from regulators about handling the substance at an industrial scale.

One from the Federal Drug Administration in the US (FDA) reads the product is not for human use. 

It adds: ‘Caution should be exercised when handling this product. 3-nitrooxypropanol may damage male fertility and reproductive organs, is potentially harmful when inhaled, and is a skin and eye irritant.’

It goes on to advise that those handling it should wear protective gear such as that covering the eyes and mouth, and gloves.

Claims it causes cancer centre on safety studies performed on rats and assessed by UK regulator the Food Standards Agency.

Results suggested that giving the rodents a high dose of the product increased the risk of cancer in female rats. 

However, a follow-up analysis found rates of the disease were not statistically higher than the control group.

Bovaer manufacturer, Dsm-firmenich said the social media storm had led to ‘mistruths and misinformation’ about the feed. 

In a statement they assured the public that ‘provided it is used as recommended’, Bovaer ‘never enters into milk and therefore does not reach consumers’. 

The supplement is also ‘specifically designed to break down in the cow’s digestive system and quickly decomposes into naturally occurring compounds already present in the rumen of a cow’, the Dutch Swiss multinational added. 

Bovaer’s product safety sheet advises people to wear masks and gloves when handling the additive to avoid risks ‘from small dust particles’. 

But this is a ‘standard sheet’ designed for workers at processing facilities, Dsm-firmenich noted.

This merely ‘ensures safe use’ and ‘such procedures are quite common for feed’.

A spokesman for the UK Food Standards Agency also told MailOnline: ‘Milk from cows given Bovaer, a feed additive used to reduce methane emissions, is safe to drink. 

‘Bovaer has undergone rigorous safety assessments and is approved for use in Great Britain.’ 

Claims that the product is linked to Bill Gates also appear to have confused some social media users, heightening the storm. 

The Microsoft co-founder had invested millions in Rumin 8, a separate company developing similar methane-reducing supplements in early 2023.

Conspiracy theorists have wrongly linked the two firms without evidence. 

Responding to the claims, an Arla spokesman said: ‘The information spreading online surrounding our link to Bill Gates is completely false and claims relating to his involvement in our products is inaccurate’. 

They added: ‘The health and safety of both consumers and animals is always our number one priority.

‘Bovaer has already been extensively and safely used across Europe and at no point during the trial will there be any impact on the milk we produce as it does not pass from the cow into the milk.

‘Regulatory bodies, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the FSA, have approved its use based on evidence that it does not harm the animals or negatively impact their health, productivity, or the quality of milk.’ 

A Bovaer spokesperson also said: ‘This has been developed in response to the need to reduce methane emissions. 

‘It is a feed supplement the cow metabolises — that means it is not in milk. 

‘It has been tested over many years in many countries; it is totally safe and has been approved by regulators in Britain, America and many other countries.

‘There is no justification for the spread and amplification of this fake news. We are scientists, we deal in facts and we would never market a product that was not safe. 

‘We are grateful for independent, third-party experts, farmers and farmers’ organisations who have come out to counter this misinformation.’

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