Is animal testing required by law?!

Is animal testing required by law?

I've contacted quite a few companies about their animal testing policies so that I know whether to purchase their products or not.

Quite a few have got back to me stating that they are trying to eliminate it but that they still do because it is required by regulatory agencies and the law.

Here is an examble from PGamble:

"As of 1st July 1999 we no longer carry out animal testing on our beauty, fabric and home care products, except where such testing is required by law"

I know there are products out there that are 100% animal friendly... are they breaking the law?? And if not, why are these companies telling me they carry out animal testing because it's required by law?

You have a very interesting question Jenny. I live in the Cincinnati area and I know for a fact that P& G conducts animal tests and also sends work out to other labs. I used to work in the research area so I do have knowledge in this area (no, I didn't do animal, I did human but we had to work with labs that did do animal). The quagmire that arises out of animal testing is whether the ingredients and components for a product have had sufficent amount of animal testing data on them. An example is sodium lauryl sulfate, which is the most common ingredient in soap, shampoo, ect. This chemical has not needed to be tested on animals since the early 80's, since there has been decades of animal research data on it. The only time it would be used would be in the fact as an control.

Now, here is the tricky part of animal testing and labeling. Companies do not want the stigma of having their products labeled as animal tested these days. So slick marketing and legal techniques are used to confuse the public. Phrases such as "This finished product has not been tested on animals" No the finished product was not, it was tested on humans (the work I used to do) but each or several of the chemicals was. Another phrase is "We do not test on animals" No the company doesn't test on animals, they send it out to other companies/labs to do their dirty word.

As for whether ort not it is required by law, in some instances it is depending upon the chemical or component being used in an product. It really depends on amount of research that has been collected and how many years the FDA/USDA dictate need to be done on a particular chemical or component. Medical products always have to have animal testing done on them before they are moved onto Stage IV testing (which is human).

I hope all of this rambling has helped shed some light. I justwant peopple to know that just because it necessarily says that a product hasn't been tested doesn't mean that it hasn't been exposed to some sort of testing.

Great question!!