Arla's Bovaer agent can cause the body's cells to mutate – the risk "not fully understood"
Published 8 December 2024 at 11.12
Domestic. The dairy giant Arla is not telling the truth when they claim that Bill Gates' climate preparation Bovaer, also known as 3-NOP, is "completely harmless" and "approved by the EU". In fact, no one knows whether the substance causes the body's cells to mutate, and the EU therefore recommends a protective mask when farmers handle the agent in powder form.
"Because the genotoxicity of 3-NOP is not fully understood," explains the EU authority EFSA in a statement.

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One of those who are critical of Arla's claims is Rebecca Danielsson, researcher in agricultural science at the Norwegian University of Agriculture (SLU). In an interview with Jordbruksaktuellt , she went through how it looks with security for Bovaer and with EU approvals.

In the interview, Danielsson states that Bovaer, or 3-NOP as it is also called, has not been shown to affect any humans or cows negatively, but that the researchers have discovered that it is converted into a toxic substance when it passes through one of the cow's stomachs.

The toxic substance, NOPA, is a so-called genotoxic metabolite that can increase the risk of cancer and give rise to hereditary diseases, cell death and mutations. Even if the concentrations of NOPA in the cow's body and in the milk are so low that they fall below the EU's limit values, it is not known for sure, according to Rebecca Danielsson, whether the substance is stored to harmful concentrations in the longer term.

- I think that Arla and Norrmejerier themselves have a responsibility to follow up the product all the time over time, so that it is not something that is stored over time and affects the cows over a long period of time. For example, it has been seen with algae that bromine found in algae can have a certain storage effect, says Rebecca Danielsson to Jordbruksaktuellt.

She is also concerned that Arla instead pretends that it has already been proven that the agent is completely harmless and that the dairy giant is also bluffing that the EU would have approved the agent. This is how Arla writes on its website:

"The supplement is approved by the EU because it is completely harmless to animals and humans and is not transferred to the milk. It is used today in over 25 countries, including here in Sweden".

According to Danielsson, the EU's food authority EFSA has not approved the agent at all. It is up to each member state to decide whether Bovaer should be allowed there or not.

- You must not write that EFSA has approved, she notes in Jordbruksaktuellt.

However, EFSA has produced a statement in which it appears that the concentration of the toxic metabolite in the milk and in the cow's tissue is so low that it does not exceed the EU's current limit values ​​for toxic substances. But the limit values ​​are based on assumptions, and the substance's effect on the cells is not fully known, according to EFSA.

So it is not known how dangerous Bovaer is, and that is something that EFSA is clear about in its statement. Therefore, EFSA recommends that farmers avoid inhalation without a protective mask when handling the agent in powder form.

"Since the genotoxicity of 3-NOP is not fully understood, exposure through inhalation of the additive may pose an additional risk to the user," EFSA writes in the statement.

Danielsson says that she understands that many people are skeptical and that consumers are unsure whether it is safe to drink milk that contains this.