What is Arla milk's Bovaer additive, and is it really harmful?
Arla Foods, a Danish-Swedish company and the fifth biggest dairy company in the world, recently announced plans to introduce an additive known as Bovaer to its cow feed, in an attempt to reduce methane emissions.
In a statement made last week, the company said that it would be testing Bovaer at 30 of its farms across the country, and that it expects the change to reduce emissions by 30-45%.
Despite the fact that the additive has undergone rigorous testing and has been cleared by the UK government, the announcement was met with backlash online – with social media users spreading misinformation and threatening to boycott the brand.
But what exactly is Bovaer? And is it safe for human and animal consumption? Here’s what you need to know.
What is Bovaer?
Bovaer is the brand name for the 3-Nitrooxypropanol or "3-NOP" additive. By introducing Bovear to cow feed, it can reduce methane emissions.
It has gone through various safety assessments as part of the Food Standards Agency (FSA)’s market authorisation process, and has been approved for use in the UK, Australia, Canada, the US and many EU countries.
It works by suppressing the enzymes in a cow’s stomach that create methane.
Is the milk from Bovaer-fed cows safe to drink?
The short answer is: yes. It is safe to drink the milk of Bovaer-fed cows. The cows metabolise the additive, meaning it therefore does not pass to the milk.
The FSA’s testing also outlined that meat from Bovaer-fed cows is safe to consume, providing the additive is used at the approved dose.
Is it safe for animals to be fed Bovaer?
The FSA conducted more than 58 studies to test potential risks – both for humans and the animals – and concluded that the additive poses no threat to either.
Professor Alastair Hay, who teaches environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, said: "At the doses which are effective in reducing methane levels by some 21 -33% in cattle, the additive has not been shown to harm the animals."
He added: "Some changes were noted in test animals of enzymes which are markers of liver function, however the changes noted were still within the usual reference ranges and were not considered to be linked directly to the test additive; the doses of additive tested where these changes were seen were over twice the maximum dose which has been approved for animals. Milk yields were unaffected at the dose where some enzyme changes were seen."
Why is methane such a problem?
Methane (CH4) is a clear, odourless greenhouse gas that impacts the earth’s temperature and climate system, contributing to 1 million premature deaths per year. Over a 20-year period, it is also 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide, according to the UN Environment Programme.
Agriculture is one of the main contributors to methane, as livestock emit methane through their manure and gastroenteric releases when breaking down hard fibres like grass for digestion. Roughly 32% of human-caused methane emissions come from this.
Farmers have been urged by world leaders and organisation like the UNEP to take more action to reduce the amount of methane produced by their animals, as outlined in the Paris Agreement. As well as experimenting with cow feed with additives like Bovaer, they’ve also encouraged rice farmers to try a wetting and drying technique, to avoid the continuous flooding of paddy fields and potentially halve emissions.
According to Nasa, methane has a relatively short lifespan of seven to 12 years in the atmosphere, while CO2 can persist for hundreds of years or more.
The Global Methane Pledge, which the UK helped to launch at COP26 in Glasgow, calls for a global 30% reduction in methane emissions by 2030 from the 2020 level of emissions.
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