Bovaer boycott sees surge in East Kilbride dairy farm’s deliveries amid concerns over feed additive
A social media backlash has seen some people pour milk down the drain.
Last updated 7th Dec 2024
A feed additive being trialled on some dairy farms has caused concerns over its effect on cow’s milk.
In a social media movement, there was a trend of people pouring milk down the drain that they suspected contained it.
Arla Foods, who own the UK’s biggest dairy cooperative, announced last week that 30 of its farms across the country would test the additive, Bovaer.
They posted the update on X, which has now racked up more than six-million views and over 13,000 replies.
Some people fear that it'll have negative side effects on their health or could cause cancer, but UK regulators dismissed the concerns after carrying out an assessment, which concluded “that the additive is not carcinogenic at the recommended inclusion rate”.
Local dairy deliveries see boost from boycott
As the stramash has continued on social media, East Kilbride dairy farmer Ross Neilson and his family at Park Farm Dairy have been inundated with phone calls.
Ross explained: “We’ve been so busy speaking to people on the phone and answering messages on social media.
“And it’s all the same conversation – people are wanting to know that we are not using any feed additives in our cow’s feed when producing our milk, and it’s resulted in a lot more orders.”
Ross and his family weren’t aware of Bovaer or the discourse around it, he admits they had to go and do some research on it when they started receiving calls from customers about it.
They bottle and deliver the milk from their cows, and Ross says they do everything they can to be as green as possible.
"Reducing emissions is a priority."
He said: “There’s been a lot of discussion about Bovaer being trialled as a way to reduce methane emissions from cows.
“It’s understandable that reducing emissions is a priority across all industries, but farmers have got lots of effective ways to do that before altering the cow’s diet.
“Our cow’s diet consists of mainly grass that we grow on the farm, and by doing that we help pull carbon out of the air and store it in the soil.
“Most modern dairy farms now use what’s called ‘regenerative farming’ where the goal of that is to create systems that are productive and environmentally friendly and beneficial for future generations.
“On our farm we use solar panels and battery storage to power the farm and the dairy, and it also charges our electric vans.
“We also use glass bottles to deliver our milk, that we use again and again, and that helps us to reduce the use of single-use plastics.”
Park Farm is a family run dairy farm near East Kilbride that’s been milking cows for over 100 years.
The Food Standards Agency have confirmed that milk from cows given Bovaer is safe to drink.
The manufacturer, DSM-Firmenich, says "mistruths and misinformation, external" have been spread about its product. It says it is "totally safe" for use, and has been tested over many years in many countries.