Independent shop own­ers are being affected by unfounded conspiracy theories about Bovaer, a dairy feed additive being trialled in milk sold in some supermarkets.

The world’s fifth-biggest dairy company, Arla, announced it would be trialling Bovaer in 30 farms from the end of November. The chemical is added to cow feed to re­duce methane emissions by 30%-45%, helping to reduce global warming.

The additive has undergone more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific studies, finding there is no trace of the additive in dairy products and there is no detected impact on human health. The addi­tive is also already used in more than 25 countries.

Despite the scientific consensus, a minority of people, including those linked to vaccine and far-right conspiracies, have made unfounded claims that Bovaer is harmful and even part of a plot to limit human reproduction.

The claims have caused wider concern among the public.

Retailers responding to customer concerns

Dozens of stores re­ported receiving messages asking if their milk is from Bovaer-linked farms, sparking many to clarify that their supplier does not use Bovaer.

Serge Notay, of Notay’s Convenience in Batley, had posted to reassure shoppers that his Müller lines were not involved.

He told Better Retailing: “We haven’t sold a single carton of [Arla-owned] Cravendale since this all started. Normally we’d sell a case of green and a case of blue per week, but it’s es­sentially been delisted be­cause sales have stopped. We have had people call­ing up asking where our milk is from.”

Similarly, Budgens Sixpenney Handley in Salisbury, Wiltshire, posted: “Many people have been asking about Bovaer, a feed designed to reduce methane emis­sions in dairy cows. We’d like to clarify that our own-brand milk is not produced by Arla.”

Backers of the cam­paign have been urging customers to ‘shop locally’ and buy locally-sourced goods, with many naming symbol groups that they claimed are not supplied with products taking part in the trial.

Boycott lists circulating online

One of the major milk suppliers to independent stores, Freshways, put out a message fuelling the conspiracy theories.

Freshways responded to reports that Bovaer had denounced the inaccura­cies, stating: “I’m sure they have.” The company also revealed it has a “new label rolling out in the coming weeks” that will make the absence of Bovaer in its products “as clear as possible”.

Arla brands include Apetina, Anchor, B.O.B, Castello, Cravendale, Lur­pak and Yeo Valley.

A ‘boycott list’ associ­ated with the misinfor­mation, widely shared online, also claimed Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S, Sains­bury’s Tesco and Waitrose “have partnerships with Arla Foods”. However, only Morrisons, Tesco and Aldi were named by Arla as taking part in the Bovaer trial.

Despite the pressure, Arla has refused to back-down, describing con­cerns as stemming from “a significant amount of misinformation”.

A spokesperson for Arla told Better Retailing: “As one of the biggest food producers in the UK, Arla Foods is committed to providing high quality dairy and we would never compromise on the safety of our products. Bovaer has been researched for 15 years and is currently used in 29 countries around the world. The science tells us that it is both proven safe for consumers and effective in reducing emissions – and it does not get into the milk, so isn’t in our products. Together with our farmer owners, this is an important part of our efforts to bring down the carbon footprint of the food we produce.”

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