News milk
Bovaer and Arla under fire from conspiracy theorists
DSM's methane inhibitor Bovaer has come under fire from conspiracy theorists in the United Kingdom and the US. The reason is the tests that Arla is doing with British supermarkets to also make British milk CO2-poorer with the help of Bovaer. Calls are now being made via social media to boycott Arla milk because it is said to contain dangerous chemicals.
These latest allegations are absolutely baseless, according to Arla, the supermarkets and government agencies. Arla calls it outright disinformation, but it seems to fall on deaf ears.
Bovaer was extensively researched before it was approved for marketing, but for certain groups, this type of reassurance is more likely to be a reason not to trust something than to trust it.
The allegations and rumors have also spread to the US, where Microsoft founder Bill Gates is linked to Bovaer, and the World Economic Forum soon comes into the picture. The link with Gates also makes it immediately clear how poorly informed the conspiracy theorists are. Gates has namely also invested in methane inhibitors, but through its own investment vehicle Breakthrough Energy Ventures in Rumin 8, which is a competitor of Bovaer producer DSM.
The American food watchdog FDA also confirms once again that Bovaer is safe. The question is whether it helps. Various TV personalities, singers and film stars call on their followers not to risk their children and their own fertility and health and to give dairy products produced with the help of Bovaer a wide berth.
The fuss has not yet spread to Denmark, where Bovaer use is more or less mandatory - or the Netherlands, where the product is also widely accepted. British supermarkets are now keeping a close eye on sales of Arla milk. If sales collapse, that will be bad news for Bovaer, no matter how much CO2 reduction the product delivers (27%). The customer is king.
Klaas van der Horst
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