What counts as ‘low’ methane for this product is unclear to the consumer other than that a feed additive has been used so that the cow produces less methane. On further exploration, we find that the feed additives are only fed to the cows for three months, just prior to slaughter and it is only in this period that the methane reduction is recorded. That leaves around 15-21 months where methane emissions are just as high as normal.

Furthermore, their ‘low methane’ claim is ambiguous. It does not give a baseline for comparison, nor a life cycle analysis to back this up. Even with the 90% reduction that was achieved in some instances, this was 90% of emissions within those last three months not overall, and so would not bring the emissions low enough to be comparable with plant-based protein. In reality, this beef should be labelled ‘beef with tiny and unverifiable methane reductions’.