The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC) has made a list of really cruelty-free companies at www.leapingbunny.org. You may ask, why not just buy any product that says something about how it doesn’t test on animals on the label when you’re in the drugstore if you’re concerned about animal testing? Basically, it’s because a lot of products that are marked “final product not tested on animals” or “Company X does not test on animals” actually have been tested on animals. Those two phrases are lies by implication — those companies have tested the individual ingredients (but not the final product) on animals, or they have outsourced the animal testing to a different company.
Lie by implication 1: “Final product not tested on animals.”
What this really means: “We tested the ingredients on animals, and then we felt like confusing our customers by writing something about how we didn’t test the final product on animals.”
Lie by implication 2: “Brand X does not test on animals.”
What this really means: “We don’t run any animal tests ourselves, because those would require a huge, expensive laboratory. So we outsource the animal testing to a laboratory, and then claim we don’t actually run the tests ourselves, or we buy ingredients that have been tested on animals, but then claim we had no control over that.”
So you can only be sure a product is cruelty free if it says point-blank that the final product and the initial ingredients that went into it have not been tested on animals. Or, you can buy products from companies that have pledged to uphold the Humane Cosmetics Standard. In the U.S., the organization that certifies companies as upholding the Humane Cosmetics Standard is the Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetics (CCIC). All companies that are on the CCIC’s master list are guaranteed to provide you with 100%-animal-testing-free products. They have made a voluntary pledge to not test any of their ingredients or final products on animals, and they’ve made sure their suppliers have also made the same pledge — thus, their products are guaranteed to be 100% free of animal testing. The list of approved companies is available in the CCIC’s shopping guide. (By cruelty-free the CCIC means products that have not been tested on laboratory animals. These products may have animal ingredients in them. If you’re concerned about that, you should cross-reference these with Vegan Action’s List of truly vegan products.)
The exact wording of how the CCIC describes the pledge it requires companies to take if they want to be on the list is:
“It is a voluntary pledge that companies make not to test on animals during any stage of product development. The company’s ingredient suppliers make the same pledge and the result is a product guaranteed to be 100% free of new animal testing. Commitments are renewed on an annual basis. This program applies only to cosmetics, personal care, and household products.“
In case you were wondering, I love PETA, but the PETA shopping guide is not hardcore enough for me — it lists companies whose parent companies test on animals, or who are required by law to test on animals, and it has this weird fixed cut off date thing that I’ve never been able to remember for more than five minutes after I’ve read up about it, so it just doesn’t work for me. The CCIC pledge is much more straightforward and easy to remember, and it is international as well – the Humane Cosmetics Standard is upheld by GoCrueltyFree.org in the U.K, ChooseCrueltyFree.org.au in Australia, and the ECEAE in Europe.
Long Complete Lists:
The List of 100%-Cruelty-Free Companies — this is a list of all the companies that subscribe to the Humane Cosmetics Standard. Any products these companies sell are 100%-animal-testing-free.
The List of 50%-Cruelty-Free Companies — this is a list of companies that do not test their final products on animals, but they do not make sure their initial ingredients have not been tested on animals. Since a lot of animal testing can occur at the initial stages, I find this distressing. (I do not buy any of these products.)
The List of Cruel Companies That Test on Animals — this is a list of companies that do test on animals.
The List of Cruelty-Free Charities — This is a list of charities that do not use animal-testing. They have been given the Humane Charity Seal of Approval.
The List of Cruelty-Free Pet Foods — This is a list of cruelty-free pet foods taken from the bottom of PETA’s does-not-test-on-animals list.
Short Abbreviated Lists:
The Abbreviated List of 100%-Cruelty-Free Companies — this list is the abbreviated list of cruelty-free companies whose products can be found in most health food stores, Whole Foods, and natural drugstores (and one at Target!). If you don’t have time to shop online, this is a nice list to take with you to the store. (This list is San Francisco bay area based — if you’re looking for products in a different region, please look at comments kind readers wrote listing cruelty-free companies in their city/state/country.)
The List of 100%-Cruelty-Free, Organic Companies — this is a list of CCIC-approved-cruelty-free companies that also claim their products are organic. (Just the American companies — I haven’t gone through and found organic companies from any cruelty-free companies outside the U.S.)The List of Cruelty-Free Pet Foods — This is not a CCIC list — it’s a PETA list — unfortunately, the CCIC does not have a list of cruelty-free pet food (probably because the CCIC limits itself to cosmetics), so I’ve had to instead find cruelty-free pet food on the PETA website, which has a very nice “caring consumer” shopping guide that includes a pet food section (by the way, thank you PETA! No one else has this sort of cruelty-free petfood list! It’s great!). The website states that PETA sends numerous pet food companies letters asking if they conduct laboratory tests on animals, and then puts the ones that respond stating that they do not test on the cruelty-free list. (More information about this is available here.) Unfortunately, most of these pet foods are difficult to find in local stores — “Newman’s Own” (an excellent product I highly recommend — it’s cruelty-free and organic) is the only one I’ve seen at mainstream pet stores such as Pet Food Express. (These pet foods have not been tested on animals — but a lot of them are not vegan, vegetarian, or free-range/cage-free/humane-conditions-for-animals involving.
The List of Cruelty-Free Senior Diet Dog Foods – This is a subset of the list of cruelty-free pet foods — it only lists cruelty free dog foods suitable for older dogs.
If you’d like to see all my reviews of cruelty-free products, please click here.
Nice…great post
Comment by Keith — March 3, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
Thanks! You’re very kind
Comment by Emily — March 4, 2008 @ 12:08 am
Thanks for this, its VERY Helpful!
Comment by Fluffkin — April 15, 2008 @ 7:49 am
Glad you liked it
Comment by Emily — April 15, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
Emily, I applaud you; I’m in the same situation, however I have given up all beef, chicken, pork, & dairy, however I still eat fish & eggs. Where can I find real range-free eggs?
Comment by Jan Martino — August 26, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
Hi Jan!
I’m so glad to meet you! Another cruelty-freeist! You’re in luck — free-range eggs are out there! Whole Foods or your local health food store probably stock them. If there aren’t any of those nearby, farmers markets are good. Can I ask where you are located? I could ask the readers to give you some stores in your area that might stock them.
Regards,
Comment by Emily — September 10, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
great posting. my personal fav from the CCIC list of cruelty free companies is Afterglow. I get my organic lipstick and other makeup from them. they also have a cruelty free statement on thier website.
and are also signed up with PETA as well. Yay for cruelty free mascara (that’s also all natural!) definitely check them out http://www.afterglowcosmetics.com
Julie
PS - i also love Pangea Organics (CCIC signer) for face washes and toners!
Comment by Julie — November 6, 2008 @ 11:49 am
Dear Julie,
Thanks so much for the Afterglow recommendation — I’m always on the lookout for recommended CCIC-approved companies — there are just so many out there it’s nice to hear from someone who’s actually used a product line before I spend money on it
Regards,
Comment by Emily — November 8, 2008 @ 11:17 am
I have a tube of Nture’s Gate Toothpaste, the symbol is not a jumping rabbit but a sitting rabbit. Is this a fake ‘Not tested on animals’ symbol?
Comment by ChaCha — November 9, 2008 @ 10:28 am
Hi ChaCha!
Good question! You know, I’ve been a little confused about those odd rabbit logos myself. I don’t trust them, so I tend to ignore them.
However, the odd thing is, I haven’t actually seen one of those strange non-leaping rabbit logos on any brand that isn’t certified cruelty-free. Nature’s Gate is certified by the CCIC, so their toothpaste is 100%-cruelty-free. Trader Joe’s unusual bunny logo is supposedly on a Nature’s Gate product, so it’s 100%-cruelty-free, and I’ve also seen an entirely different bunny logo on Sante, which is certified by a CCIC-sister-organization, so it’s 100%-cruelty-free as well. I think these companies are just on crack — they don’t realize that having a standardized logo is incredibly beneficial and signals to customers that they have a 100%-cruelty-free product, and that having some sort of weird pseudo-leaping bunny logo is really confusing and leads to people NOT buying their products.
It also makes me wonder — are these companies too cheap to pay the sliding-scale CCIC licensing fee? (It can’t be that expensive!) And are these companies entering the semi-legal area of trademark infringement? Maybe the CCIC could sue them for infringing on their logo? I really should email these companies and ask what the heck is going on.
Anyway, thanks for bringing that up — I’ve been meaning to mention it in a blog post
Regards,
Comment by Emily — November 9, 2008 @ 10:52 am
You’re welcome! I have been totally thrilled with my afterglow makeup.
Yeah for those of us who want to be cruelty free, there is some (at times a lot) of research
thank goodness for CCIC
–Julie
Comment by Julie — November 17, 2008 @ 11:39 am