Say ‘no’ to animal testing

At Neal’s Yard Remedies the things you don’t find in our products are as important as the things you do. One thing you definitely won’t find are ingredients tested on animals.

We do not believe in animal testing; we object to the inhumanity of it, but we also object to the way it has, for so long, been held up as the gold standard of safety testing. This belief flies in the face of decades’ worth of data proving that the only reliable animal for testing the safety of products used on humans is humans!

All animals are different in their reactions to drugs and other substances. For instance, did you know that:

• Squalene a natural constituent of human sebum, that keeps the skin around the roots of the hair lubricated and supple, causes hair loss I rabbits and guinea pigs.
• If a human gets menthol in their eye it will cause a temporary stinging sensation, but in rabbits it causes severe eye damage.
• Nickel is recognized as the single most common cause of contact dermatitis in women but it does not produce an allergic reaction in guinea pigs.
• Coconut based soaps can cause irritation on the skin of rabbits and guinea pigs but rarely do on human skin.

Although conventional scientists argue that there are no real alternatives to animal testing, this attitude is changing, thanks to the efforts of groups like the animal welfare charity FRAME (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments) . FRAME is dedicated to the development of new and valid methods that will replace the need for laboratory animals in medical and scientific research, education, and testing. At Neal’s Yard Remedies we fully support the work of FRAME.

The UK and a few other countries have introduced a whole or partial ban on cosmetics animal testing, but animal testing for cosmetics continues in the rest of Europe and around the world. This means that consumers are presented a confusing array of “not tested” claims on bottles, which usually only relate to testing of the final product and not, crucially, to the ingredients.

We make it simple. We don’t test any of our products on animals and never have. Our suppliers don’t test on animals either. We prefer to rely on our long-standing knowledge of herbs and flowers combined with our technical expertise to make great skin and body care products. Instead of tests on rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats, we employ an independent company that uses human volunteers to trial new products, to make sure they’re safe and effective.

The standards we use were developed by leading animal protection campaign groups – whose efforts we applaud and support – and our continued commitment to animal welfare has been recognised by campaigners such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) who awarded us a ‘golden’ bunny as well as by the RSPCA (the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) who commends our stance on the issue of animal testing.

When you buy Neal’s Yard Remedies products you can be confident you are buying products that do no harm; not to people, not to planet – and not to animals.