Ministers must reassure consumers feeding cattle Bovaer is safe, says Lady Sheehan

Bovaer is one of a range of additives that are given to cattle to aid digestion and reduce flatulence, which is a major cause of methane emissions. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

The government must urgently reassure consumers that feed additives given to cattle to reduce methane emissions are harmless, and a vital tool in tackling the climate crisis, the chair of an influential parliamentary committee has warned.

Lady Sheehan, chair of the environment and climate change committee of the House of Lords, called on ministers to step up as a row has blown up over the prospective use of the additive Bovaer in British dairy herds supplying Arla, the dairy company.