World: Beef's best bet to curb methane emissions hangs under cancer storm cloud

Published Oct 30, 2024

Tridge summary

A revolutionary red seaweed called asparagopsis, which has the capability of reducing livestock methane emissions by over 80% when fed to cattle, is facing concerns due to its main compound, bromoform, which the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified as a probable human carcinogen. This has raised apprehensions among cattle producers, despite extensive research that suggests no adverse effects on food quality, safety, or animal welfare. The World Health Organization, however, is more cautious, stating that there is limited evidence of bromoform's carcinogenicity in animals and humans. The company FutureFeed, which controls the global intellectual property rights for this technology, insists that asparagopsis is safe and effective. Despite concerns and mixed findings on safety and feed efficiency, asparagopsis is supported by the Australian cattle industry as part of a suite of technologies to address methane emissions, with ongoing research and collaboration with Meat & Livestock Australia.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

As the world's most advanced technology for reducing livestock methane emissions sits on the cusp of a fullscale production and marketing push, it is being plagued by questions around cancer links with its main ingredient. Ironically, it is largely cattle producers - those who stand to benefit the most from the massively reduced carbon footprint that asparagopsis can deliver - who are raising the most concerns. It's not that they don't believe the science. What they fear is the livestock industry may be turning a blind eye to the effects of consumer perception in its rush to push ahead with its carbon neutral goal. Ten years of rigorous research has taken place since the discovery that the red seaweed endemic to Australia and New Zealand was capable of reducing enteric methane emissions by more than 80 per cent. That breakthrough came from a team of scientists from CSIRO and James Cook University, supported by Meat & Livestock Australia. Overwhelmingly, the research points to no ...

Source: Farmweekly