Kellogg’s use of animal testing has been in the news since 2007, when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) publicly asked the company to stop the practice. In response to the initial criticism that Kellogg received, the company said that they would stop testing on animals by 2025. Luckily, ongoing negotiations with animal rights activists have prompted Kellogg to stop the testing immediately.
According to the company’s new “Animal Welfare Commitment”:
“Kellogg does not conduct, fund, support or condone the use of animal testing for food products or ingredients” beyond what is explicitly require(d) by governmental agencies for food safety or quality.”
The commitment also indicated that the company supports “replacing animal testing with other validated methods.”
However, the announcement came with the caveat that testing will continue in circumstances where it is required by government.
“Only when governmental agencies explicitly require animal testing to demonstrate safety or quality are studies conducted by accredited third-party facilities that follow proper animal welfare guidelines. We do not maintain any testing facilities,” the statement said.
Kris Bahner, senior vice president of global corporate affairs at Kellogg, insists that the company rarely tested on animals in recent years, and that this new statement is merely a reflection of “practices that have been in place for several years.”
“The overwhelming majority of the Kellogg Company portfolio is plant-based. We had not included animal testing in the Animal Welfare Commitment prior as the frequency of testing is so rare, but understand reiterating our approach publicly is helpful to stakeholders,” Bahner said in a statement to Battle Creek Enquirer.
However PETA says that Kellogg was involved with at least 1273 animal experiments on rats and hamsters between 1995 to 2016.
According to PETA Vice President Shalin Gala, Kellogg had no public policy on animal testing until just a few months ago, when they released their Animal Welfare Commitment.