Survey Shows Consumers Misled Over Animal Testing

New research suggests many beauty companies are sitting on a ticking time bomb of consumer boycotts and falling sales if their secret animal testing of products is made public.

Animal welfare group Uncaged took caged rats to London’s Oxford Street last week to raise awareness of this research and highlight new evidence that animal testing is still used for many well-known high street beauty products.

The You Gov survey carried out for Uncaged, which has been campaigning peacefully against experiments on animals for almost 15 years, found that two-thirds of British women would stop buying a particular beauty product or range if they knew it had been tested on animals. The women also believed that cosmetics products and toiletries tested on animals should be banned.

However, evidence uncovered by Uncaged shows that a key ingredient in many Herbal Essences shampoos and conditioners, made by Procter & Gamble, was tested on live pregnant rats and their foetuses in the US by the company’s scientists*

The animals were force-fed high doses of the chemical - already approved for use in beauty products - in experiments that an independent scientific expert has described as “a profligate and wasteful use of animals”. All of the animals were killed at the end of the experiments.

Uncaged is campaigning to raise consumer awareness of this ‘hidden’ testing. Celebrities Twiggy, Bill Bailey, Michaela Strachan, Chrissie Hynde, Sue Perkins and Benjamin Zephaniah have all pledged their support.

“Consumers are being misled by the beauty companies, who claim they don’t animal test their products – but they still test the ingredients, or use a third party to do testing for them,” explains Dr Dan Lyons, campaigns director at Uncaged.

“Ethical shopping rose by 9% last year as consumers realised how much power they have to change the way companies behave. If the British public knew about the animal testing of these products, sales would drop overnight.”

Uncaged is calling on Herbal Essences manufacturer Procter and Gamble to end all animal testing of its cosmetics and household products and support the forthcoming EU ban. The organisation is also lobbying MPs to support monitoring of current legislation, which limits animal testing of products sold in the UK.

“We want to shed light on what really goes on in the beauty industry, so consumers can make an informed choice,” concludes Dan Lyons. “If you knew more than a thousand animals had died to create your favourite shampoo, would you still want to buy it?”

*Published scientific papers show Procter and Gamble took an already approved ingredient of Herbal Essences shampoos - butylparaben - and force-fed it to pregnant rats. The rats’ unborn offspring were then removed by caesarean section and tested for toxic effects