Cruelty Free Certifications
There are many organisations worldwide that set out strict criteria to ensure that you, as a consumer, know the product you are buying is free from animal testing.
The organizations listed below are just a few of the certifying bodies that take a stance against animal testing of any kind, in any process of the products manufacturing. However, they may still include animal derived ingredients in their products. There are also Vegan organisations that have given their stamp of approval to companies who include no animal derived, animal testing, or animal by products of any kind.
1. Leaping Bunny
Created by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). The majority of animal testing occurs when companies test the ingredients they want to include in their products on animals, rather than the finished product. Many companies manage to get away with claiming they are ‘cruelty free’ as they don’t test their finished product on animals, but have tested the ingredients used in that product on animals. The leaping bunny program proves that no animal testing has taken place in the testing of ingredients or manufacturing of the finished product.
Companies must prove the following in order to gain the leaping bunny certification:
- They must guarantee that no animal testing has taken place on their finished products, the ingredients, or at any stage in the products development by the laboratories, manufacturers and ingredients suppliers, after a fixed cut off date.
- They must be assured that their supply chains are not testing on animals after this fixed cut off date.
- They must agree to an audit of their suppliers monitoring system.
A fixed cut off date is a date in which none of the companies ingredients or products will have been tested on animals. This allows the company to enforce their animal testing policy.
2. PETA Cruelty Free
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Similar to the Leaping Bunny program, and perhaps a little more well known, PETA manage lists of companies that do and don’t test their products on animals.
In order to be included in the list that doesn’t test on animals, they must:
- Complete a questionnaire claiming that they themselves and their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals.
- Sign a statement verifying that they do not conduct, commission or pay for their ingredients, formulations or finished products to be tested on animals.
PETA also provide a Cruelty Free and Vegan label, which companies can acquire once they have proven that their products don’t contain any animal derived ingredients.
3. The Vegan Society
Certifying all types of products from food, to textiles, to kitchen products and ensures that no animal testing, or animal ingredients have been used in the manufacturing and production of these products.
To be eligible for a Vegan Society label, companies must:
- Understand that the word ‘animal’ refers to the entire Animal Kingdom, which includes all vertebrates and multicellular invertebrates.
- Prove that no animals, animal products, animal by products or ingredients derived from animals have been used in the developing or manufacturing of the product.
- Prove that no animals, animal products, animal by products or ingredients derived from animals have been used in the testing of its products, by themselves or by a third party.
Do you specifically look for products with cruelty free labels? Let us know which labels are most important to you!
