Lurpak, Cravendale, Tesco… even Starbucks: full list of ‘contaminated’ Bovaer products that customers are boycotting over ‘carcinogenic’ cow feed additive

Furious Britons have vowed to boycott more than a dozen of Britain’s best-known brands amid fears some dairy products are ‘contaminated’ with an additive linked to cancer.

Shoppers say they will avoid milk and butter from Danish firm Arla after the company announced a trial of giving its cows the nutritional supplement Bovaer.

In a list, now circulating widely on social media, consumers are also instructed to avoid Lurpak and Anchor butter, both of which are manufactured by the company.

Others include companies that have partnerships with Arla Foods, such as Yeo Valley, as well as major supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda that stock own brand milk supplied by Arla.

Bovaer, which will be introduced into the diet of livestock, is designed to reduce the amount of methane they produce during digestion, a gas that contributes to climate change.

It has been declared a safe additive by both European and British regulators because it does not enter the milk.

Experts have also told MailOnline that customers have nothing to worry about and that concerns about the risk of cancer are unfounded.

However, social media is now awash with claims that the additive can cause fertility problems and cancer.

The viral list, shared on X and Facebook, warns customers against purchasing Arla and its sub-brands Arla Cravendale, Arla BOB, Arla Protein and Arla Lactofree.

Artisan cheese brand Castello, Apetina – which sells white cheese and paneer – and Arla Organic are others blacklisted.

It also warns consumers about brands that have partnerships with Arla Foods, including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Ecomilk.

Arla produces ready-to-drink chilled coffee drinks for Starbucks, while also supplying dairy products for McDonald’s.

Virtually all major supermarkets have also been attacked by shoppers and are also on the list.

They claim this is because Arla Foods produces products such as milk and cheese for many of their own brand ranges.

Since the list started circulating, dozens of Brits have taken to TikTok to share clips of themselves pouring the dairy products down the toilet and throwing them in the bin.

In a video that has been viewed more than 1.6 million times, a man points to his bottle of half-skimmed Asda milk labeled ‘sourced from Arla farms’.

He adds: ‘This is going straight down the drain and I won’t be buying Asda milk again.’

Bovaer is a compound made from silicon dioxide, propylene glycol and the organic compound 3-nitrooxypropanol, known as 3-nitrooxypropanol or abbreviated to 3-NOP.

The concerns spread online about the additive mainly refer to documents from regulators about handling the substance on an industrial scale.

A notice from the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) states that the product is not for human use.

It adds: ‘Caution should be exercised when handling this product. 3-nitrooxypropanol can damage male fertility and reproductive organs, is potentially harmful by inhalation and is an irritant to the skin and eyes.’

It is advised that those handling it should wear protective clothing such as clothing that covers the eyes, mouth and gloves.

Claiming it causes cancer, the center relies on safety studies carried out on rats and assessed by the UK regulator, the Food Standards Agency.

It details the results of studies where the rodents were given a high dose of the product, which suggested it increased the risk of cancer in women.

However, a follow-up analysis showed that disease rates were not statistically higher than in the control group.

Bovaer manufacturer DSM-firmenich said the social media storm had led to “mistruths and misinformation” about the feed.

In a statement, they assured the public that ‘provided it is used as recommended’, Bovaer ‘never ends up in milk and therefore does not reach consumers’.

The supplement is also “specifically designed to break down in the cow’s digestive system and quickly dissociate into naturally occurring compounds already present in a cow’s rumen,” the Dutch-Swiss multinational added.

Bovaer’s product safety sheet advises people to wear masks and gloves when handling the additive to avoid risks ‘from small dust particles’.

But this is a “standard sheet” designed for workers in processing facilities, Dsm-firmenich also noted.

This only guarantees ‘safe use’ and ‘such procedures are very common for animal feed’.

A spokesperson for the UK’s Food Standards Agency also told MailOnline: ‘Milk from cows fed Bovaer, a feed additive used to reduce methane emissions, is safe to drink.

‘Bovaer has undergone rigorous safety assessments and has been approved for use in the UK.’

Claims that the product is linked to Bill Gates also appear to have confused some social media users, adding to the firestorm.

The Microsoft co-founder had invested millions in early 2023 in Rumin 8, a separate company that developed similar methane-reducing supplements.

Conspiracy theorists have falsely linked the two companies without evidence.

In response to the claims, an Arla spokesperson said: ‘The information being spread online about our link with Bill Gates is completely false and claims regarding his involvement with our products are inaccurate.’

They added: ‘The health and safety of both consumers and animals is always our first priority.

‘Bovaer is already widely and safely used 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 the cow into the milk.

‘Regulatory authorities, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the FSA, have approved its use based on evidence that it does not harm animals or adversely affect their health, productivity or milk quality.’