Bovaer conspiracy theory

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Bovaer conspiracy theory

Date	From November 2024
Location	Mainly the United Kingdom and social media
Type	Conspiracy theory, misinformation, consumer boycott
Cause	Arla Foods' announcement of a Bovaer trial with Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco
Participants	Arla Foods, DSM-Firmenich, social media users, UK retailers

The Bovaer conspiracy theory is an unfounded conspiracy theory and associated misinformation campaign concerning Bovaer, a cattle feed additive designed to reduce methane emissions from cows. It spread mainly in the United Kingdom after Arla Foods announced on 26 November 2024 that it would trial the use of Bovaer across about 30 British farms, working with Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco.

The claims alleged that Bovaer contaminated milk, caused cancer or infertility, formed part of a depopulation agenda, or was connected to Bill Gates. The backlash included calls to boycott Arla products, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi, and videos of people throwing away or pouring away Arla dairy products. Regulators, Arla, DSM-Firmenich and fact-checking organisations said the claims were false or misleading, and that Bovaer had been found safe for consumers when used at approved doses.

Background

Further information: 3-Nitrooxypropanol

A space-filling model of methane. Bovaer is designed to inhibit the rumen enzyme that produces enteric methane during cattle digestion.

Bovaer is the trade name for a feed additive containing 3-nitrooxypropanol, also known as 3-NOP. It is used in cattle feed to reduce enteric methane emissions, which are produced during digestion. The product was developed by DSM-Firmenich. The methane supplement is made of silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and the organic compound 3-nitrooxypropanol (known as 3-NOP).

In 2021, the European Food Safety Authority published a scientific opinion on Bovaer 10 for ruminants used for milk production and reproduction. It concluded that Bovaer 10 was safe for dairy cows at the maximum recommended level and was of no concern for consumer safety and the environment at approved levels. In Great Britain, the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland assessed Bovaer 10 and concluded that it was safe for the target species, consumers and the environment, and was efficacious for reducing methane production when used at the proposed dose. The assessment also found that the additive should be considered corrosive to the eyes, a skin irritant and potentially harmful by inhalation for people handling it directly. Bovaer has been authorised for use globally including in the EU, Australia, Canada and the US. In the EU the additive was authorised according to Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 on additives for use in animal nutrition in April 2022. Bovaer has more recently been authorised in Canada in January 2024, and in the US in May 2024.

On 26 November 2024, Arla Foods announced a joint project with Aldi, Morrisons and Tesco to trial Bovaer on about 30 British dairy farms. Arla said the trial was intended to understand how feed additives could be introduced into normal feeding routines and scaled across a larger group of farmers. The Bovaer initiative is part of Arla's wider environmental plan to reduce 30 per cent of CO2 emissions from its dairy production by 2030. If successful, it will be rolled out to more British farmers.

Spread of claims

Following Arla's announcement, social media users called for boycotts of Arla and the three supermarkets involved in the trial. Sky News reported that the original Arla post on X had been viewed more than five million times and had received about 13,000 comments by 3 December 2024. Videos on TikTok showed some users discarding Arla products such as Lurpak and Cravendale milk. According to BBC, mentions of Bovaer on X (formerly Twitter) surged from nearly zero to over 71,000 in just a few days. While some users raised genuine concerns about the additive's safety, others linked the trial to broader conspiracy theories. Many of these users had a history of sharing anti-vaccine and climate-change-denying content.

The conspiracy theory drew on several overlapping claims. Some posts alleged that Bovaer was a "poison" or that it would contaminate dairy products; others linked the additive to cancer, infertility, Bill Gates or a depopulation agenda. Full Fact reported that altered screenshots of Arla material were shared with text claiming that the trial was a "Bill Gates funded program" and calling for a boycott of Arla products.

The Guardian described the episode as a "social media storm of misinformation" that drew in Reform UK, the dairy industry and Bill Gates. Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said on 2 December 2024 that he would not consume anything containing Bovaer and called for an urgent review by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. consumers have been criticising other brands on social media who may have used the methane additive in their products, including Cadbury, Costa Coffee, and McDonalds, although Euronews reported it had not been able to verify those claims.

Underlying claims and points of contention

Several specific facts, documents and associations were repeatedly cited by social media users, commentators and politicians as grounds for concern, and were re-shared as evidence in support of the conspiracy theory. Independent regulators, scientists and the manufacturer addressed each of these points, but the existence of an underlying factual reference in each case helped the narratives circulate.

Safety classification of the pure substance

The most widely shared piece of "official" evidence was the regulatory hazard classification of 3-NOP in its concentrated form. The Food Standards Agency's published assessment states that the additive should be considered corrosive to the eyes, a skin irritant and potentially harmful by inhalation; it is not a skin sensitizer. The European Food Safety Authority similarly noted that the active substance 3-NOP may be harmful if inhaled. It is irritant (but not corrosive) to skin, irritant to the eyes but it is not a skin sensitiser. As the genotoxicity of 3-NOP is not completely elucidated, the exposure through inhalation of the additive may represent an additional risk for the user.

Screenshots of these regulatory passages, in particular the reference to genotoxicity not being "completely elucidated", were widely circulated as proof of a health risk. The FSA later clarified that these warnings concerned the additive - in its pure form at the manufacturing stage, and that the substance is not harmful at the point it is fed to animals. Science Feedback summarised the distinction by noting that concentrated forms of 3-NOP are considered hazardous for people handling them, like workers involved in making Bovaer's and, to a lesser extent, farmers. But this risk doesn't apply to the product when used as a feed additive nor to the milk and meat from cows treated with it.

Animal toxicology findings

Several posts referred to animal studies in which 3-NOP was associated with effects on reproductive organs. According to toxicologist Oliver Jones, Research in rats and cows found that doses of 300-500 mg per kg of body weight resulted in ovarian and testicular shrinkage. He added that, to reach a comparable exposure, a 70 kg human would need to consume 21-35 grams (around 2 tablespoons) of pure 3-NOP a day every day for weeks on end to see this effect. The UK Science Media Centre noted that there is a safety factor of some 170 between the dose at which some benign tumours were seen in rodents and the dose of the additive considered safe by the FSA.

Connections between DSM-Firmenich and Bill Gates

Posts on X and other platforms incorrectly described Bovaer as a "Bill Gates funded program". Gates is not an investor in the additive, but several indirect connections were cited.

Although DSM-Firmenich, Arla and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation each stated that Gates had no involvement in Bovaer, several real but indirect associations were cited in support of the link:

• Full Fact reported that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has previously given development grants to DSM-Firmenich, but these have been specifically for projects related to preventing malaria and improving water, sanitation and hygiene, and were not related to Bovaer. Logically Facts noted that DSM has previously received 4 grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the earliest in 2013 and the most recent in 2022, which is still ongoing.
• Gates discussed 3-nitrooxypropanol in his 2021 book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, describing it as a promising exception is a compound called 3-nitrooxypropanol, which reduces methane emissions by 30 percent. DSM-Firmenich publicised this reference in a 2022 press release.
• Through Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Gates invested in the Australian start-up Rumin8, which is developing a rival, red-seaweed-derived methane-reducing supplement.

DSM-Firmenich responded by stating that Bill Gates is not involved in the development of Bovaer. It has been successfully and safely in commercial use for over two years on farms across the globe. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also told Full Fact that the foundation trust does not own equity or hold debt in DSM-Firmenich.

In one example of the underlying assertions being raised through formal channels, the Scottish Government received a constituent enquiry forwarded by a Member of the Scottish Parliament alleging that DSM-Firmenich denying any connection with Bill Gates, only for us to discover Bill Gates has purchased 1m shares in the Company, with the major investor behind the scheme, Black Rock. The same enquiry questioned an earlier £10 million Scottish Enterprise grant supporting DSM Nutritional Products' manufacturing site at Dalry; the response directed the questioner to DSM-Firmenich's published statements.

Organic standards and labelling

The UK organic certification body the Soil Association noted that The main components that make up Bovaer are not included in the list of approved products/compounds and as a result, Bovaer would not be permitted under organic standards and for use in organic farming. The fact that finished dairy products from cows fed Bovaer would not be separately labelled was cited as a further concern; the Food Standards Agency stated that Feed additives are not labelled within the ingredients list of food products. In this particular case, the additive is metabolised by the cows so does not pass into the milk.

US regulatory pathway

In the United States, Bovaer 10 was not approved as a new animal drug; rather, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a letter stating that Although Bovaer 10 is an unapproved drug, at this time we do not intend to initiate enforcement action and that FDA continues to have no questions or public health concerns about Bovaer 10. This use of "enforcement discretion" rather than full approval was sometimes presented online as evidence that the additive had not been properly vetted, although the FDA's letter sets out that the decision followed a review of your data and the characteristics of your product covering safety, intended effect and manufacturing.

Broader cultural and political context

Commentators noted that the controversy fit into wider patterns of distrust of climate policy and food technology. The Academy of Ideas argued that people are asking why we need such chemicals added to the food supply, stating they have some sympathy with that question when it comes to climate-change policy, but the febrile reaction to Bovaer feels out of all proportion. An industry commentary observed that claims that Bovaer is "toxic" or "engineered" to alter milk, despite scientific evidence proving otherwise. Additionally, conspiracy theories linking the additive to figures like Bill Gates have further fuelled unfounded fears and calls to boycott Arla products.

Response and fact checking

Arla Foods published a statement on 3 December 2024 saying that "a significant amount of misinformation" had circulated after the trial announcement. The company said it would not jeopardise consumer health or animal welfare, and stated that Bovaer had been researched for more than 15 years, was used in many countries, and did not pass from cows into milk.

Full Fact rated claims linking Bovaer to Bill Gates and cancer as false. It stated that Gates had invested in Rumin8, a different company working on methane-reducing cattle supplements, but that Rumin8 was not involved with Bovaer, Arla or DSM-Firmenich. Full Fact also said that warnings about 3-NOP causing irritation or reproductive harm related to the handling of the additive itself, not to drinking milk from cows fed Bovaer.

The Food Standards Agency said that milk from cows given Bovaer was safe to drink and that Bovaer was approved for use in Great Britain. The FSA assessment found that levels of 3-NOP or its primary metabolite in milk and edible tissues were not of concern, and that consumer intake would be within the acceptable daily intake. The Guardian reported that the FSA said Bovaer is metabolised by cows and does not pass into milk. The FSA also stated that It does not cause cancer (it is not carcinogenic or genotoxic) and poses no safety concerns to consumers, animals or the environment. More than 58 studies on potential risks were evaluated and it was concluded that the additive is safe at twice the recommended dose.

AAP FactCheck separately assessed claims that milk from cows given Bovaer caused male infertility or cancer, rating them false and reporting that food safety authorities said milk from cows given Bovaer was safe for human consumption.

Analysis

Researchers Louise Manning, Adele Wylie and Michael K. Goodman analysed the public response to the Arla announcement in a 2025 article in Sustainability. They found that online and mainstream media discussion increased sharply in the three weeks after 27 November 2024, with narratives shaped by mainstream media framing, distrust in science, fear-based claims, conspiracy theories and consumer boycotts.

The authors argued that the episode reflected tensions between science-led climate interventions in food supply chains and consumer distrust of "Big Food", government, science and technological "fixes". They also noted that boycott messages and images circulated across social media platforms, and that some users framed local, organic or Bovaer-free milk as safer alternatives.

Scientists quoted by The Guardian described the episode as a "wake-up call" for better public communication about methane-reducing technologies in agriculture.

Subsequent developments

The Arla trial across roughly 30 UK farms ran for a limited period and was concluded in late 2025, with the results placed under review by the cooperative.

Separately, in 2025 some Danish farmers reported cow health concerns on herds using Bovaer, prompting an examination by researchers at Aarhus University. Professor Charlotte Lauridsen of the university's Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences stated that The pattern of disease now being described in the media-with fever, diarrhoea and, in some cases, dead cows-has never been observed in our extensive studies. DSM-Firmenich said it was engaging with the relevant organisations and that, In previously reported cases, Bovaer was not identified as a contributing factor to the health concerns raised.

See also

• Climate change misinformation
• Food safety
• Misinformation
• Science communication

References

This article "Bovaer conspiracy theory" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Bovaer conspiracy theory. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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