FEELING self-righteous because you think you’re buying cruelty-free beauty products?
You might not be getting what you paid for.
According to the RSPCA, you’re probably being duped without realising it.
Thousands of consumers are unwillingly buying products which have been tested on animals due to confusing and misleading claims, the charity claims.
“A lot of people might think animal testing in cosmetics is a thing of the past, (but) sadly it’s still used by many leading beauty brands around the world,” Dr Bidda Jones, Chief Scientist, RSPCA Australia said.
Dr Jones said consumers often found it difficult to determine if a product was tested on animals due to conflicting, unclear or confusing claims made by various companies.
For example claims such as “We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to test on our behalf, except where required by law” was just one example.
Dr Jones said it may sound as if a company may not test on animals but the reality was anything but.
“If a company wants to create a new line of products which contains new ingredients it will often be required — by law — to test these ingredients on animals before they can be used,” Dr Jones said.
Rabbits are one of the common animals which are subjected to painful tests. Source: News Limited
The RSPCA said unless a product clearly displayed the cruelty-free symbol, a beauty product or ingredient probably had been tested on animals, even if a particular company claimed otherwise.
According to the RSPCA, around 27,000 animals including rabbits, mice and rats suffer painful and distressing tests all in the name of beauty.
However Dr Jones said with 20,000 chemical ingredients already approved and available to be used in the creation of products there was no need for future testing or future suffering to take place.
The confusing claims around testing have sparked RSPCA Australia and RSPCA UK to join forces in a new campaign Makeover the World, calling on all international cosmetic companies to end animal testing forever.
However on top of confusing claims, the RSPCA said there was also the added problem of products being tested or made overseas and being available in Australian stores.
“While cosmetic companies don’t test their products on animals here in Australia many well-known brands do test their products or ingredients on animals elsewhere in the world which then end up for sale on our shelves,” the charity’s campaign page reads.
For instance, this could mean a product made or tested in another country could wind up in our supermarket trolleys.
The RSPCA has urged consumers to take a stand and lobby international manufacturers whose products or ingredients are tested on animals.
On its campaign page, it names a number of leading manufacturers, which produce thousands of everyday products ranging from lipsticks, to moisturisers and toothpastes, as companies which all needed to take a stand.
While acknowledging some are investing in alternative non-animal tests, it said all companies needed to make a firm commitment to end animal testing full-stop.
