Experts have weighed in on allegations that milk sold in Britain’s major supermarkets will soon be contaminated with an additive said to be linked to a host of health problems, including cancer.
Shoppers threatened to boycott dairy products such as milk and butter made by Danish company Arla and sold in Tesco, Morrisons and Lidl, after the company announced a trial that would involve giving its cows a feed additive called Bovaer.
The chemical, which would be introduced into livestock feed, is designed to reduce the amount of methane they produce in digestion, a gas that contributes to climate change.
However, social media is awash with claims that the additive can cause fertility problems and cancer.
Dozens of Brits have taken to TikTok to share clips of themselves flushing dairy products down the toilet and throwing them into the bin.
Great Yarmouth Reform MP and billionaire businessman Rupert Lowe also jumped on the bandwagon this afternoon, tweeting that he “won’t consume anything containing Bovaer”.
But multiple regulators, both in Britain and the EU, insist that the additive is safe and does not actually transfer into milk.
So what is the truth?
TikTok users have claimed that the additive “could be” carcinogenic, but experts say that is not the case.
TikTokers have shared videos demonstrating their boycott by throwing food products into the trash.
Speaking to MailOnline, experts have assured customers that there is probably nothing to worry about.
“Additives used in agriculture must undergo rigorous testing by food safety authorities in both the UK and Europe for their use to be permitted,” said Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a nutrition expert at the University of Reading. .
“If a major brand uses something, you can generally trust that it is perfectly safe for consumption.”
Registered nutritionist Rob Hobson said that if Bovaer has been approved by regulators in the UK and Europe, it was “safe to assume” that milk from cattle fed the product would be fine to consume.
“They’re not going to allow something to be used if it doesn’t meet safety standards,” he said.
Bovaer is a compound made of silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and organic compound 3-nitrooxypropanol which is known as 3-nitrooxypropanol or abbreviated as 3-NOP.
Concerns spreading online about the additive mainly refer to regulators’ documents on handling the substance on an industrial scale.
One from the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says the product is not for human use.
It adds: ‘Caution should be used when handling this product. 3-Nitrooxypropanol can damage male fertility and reproductive organs, is potentially harmful when inhaled, and irritates the skin and eyes.
It is recommended that those who handle it use protective equipment that covers the eyes, mouth and gloves.
A man filmed himself with Arla products and told his followers they would “go straight down the drain.”
Claims that it causes cancer center on safety studies carried out in rats that were evaluated by the UK regulator, the Food Standards Agency.
These initial results from studies that gave rodents a high dose of the product suggested that it increased the risk of cancer in females.
However, a follow-up analysis found that disease rates were not statistically higher than the control group.
In conclusion, the FSA ruled: “Due to the absence of malignancy and genotoxicity, it was concluded that the additive is not carcinogenic at the recommended inclusion dose.”
Claims that the product is linked to Bill Gates appear to be a confusion, as the Microsoft co-founder invested millions in Rumin 8, an independent company developing similar methane-reducing supplements in early 2023.
Conspiracy theorists have wrongly linked the two companies without evidence.
This appears to have led to widespread distrust in the ingredient, with social media users cherry-picking information that appears to link Bovaer to health issues.
Arla has responded to what she called “completely false” “misinformation” surrounding the additive on social media, particularly the confusion between Bovaer and the company Rumin 8 that had benefited from Gates’ investment.
In response to the social media storm, an Arla spokesperson said that “the information spread online about our connection with Bill Gates is completely false and claims regarding his involvement in our products are inaccurate.”
Great Yarmouth Reform MP Rupert Lowe intervened in the debate this afternoon and pledged to boycott the products.
In a TikTok video viewed more than 207,000 times, a man points to his bottle of Asda semi-skimmed milk which displays the label “from Arla farms”.
He adds: “This will go down the drain and I will never buy Asda milk again.”
In another, a woman is seen emptying her bottle of Arla into the toilet before flushing it.
“This is the closest we get,” he says. “From now on we will have local milk.”
In another TikTok video, a user with more than 4,000 followers pours her bottle down the sink and adds “bye-bye Arla.”
Commenting on this, an Arla spokesperson said that “information spread online about our connection with Bill Gates is completely false and claims relating to his involvement in our products are inaccurate.”
The health and safety of both consumers and animals “is always our number one priority,” they added.
“Bovaer has already been used widely and safely 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 cow to milk.
“Regulatory bodies, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the UK Food Standards Agency, have approved its use based on evidence that it does not harm animals or adversely affect their health, productivity or quality.” of milk”.