Unilever Committed to eradicating Animal testing. Sort of.
JasonSwetland
Posts: 235 Member
I eat a lot of Peanut Butter, and I don't know about you but I would find it hard to go strictly homemade on the PB and Jay, I don't think I could afford the peanuts, to be honest. (I do make my own and buy some local mom and pop shop Peanut butter). The brand I am hooked on right now, when I eat a brand name PB is Skippy Natural both creamy and crunchy. Skippy's parent brand is Unilever.
Since I am new-er to Veganism (practicing since November 1st!) I'm trying to 'Become Vegan' and not just practice it as a form of strict Vegetarianism. So that in my mind requires me to also look into the source of corporate foods and care products (Toiletries, soap, shampoo) so I am going to occasionaly post hat I find in my research.
Today it's Unilever's turn. Unilever is the parent Company of Skippy Peanut Butter. So far I like what I see at least from the corporate web site; they have publicly announced a campaign to eradicate animal testing in their products.
Here is a link:
http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/consumer/testing/index.aspx
The part I did not like is this:
We do not test finished products on animals unless demanded by the regulatory authorities in the few countries where this is the law. In such cases, we try to convince the local authorities to change the law. Where some testing of ingredients is required by law or currently unavoidable, we aim to minimise the number of animals used.
Thats just the start. Repeatedly Unilevers statements contain this message over and over again: They do not need to do aimal testing on their products because of careful analyzation of the ingredients and the analyzing the risks. EXCEPT when a government agency requires a company to do so.
There are a couple ways of looking at this. Its a start. Its an admission that responsible creation of food and care products can be done. They are proving it to be the case. Except when local governments, who they try to convince that it is not neccesary, refuse and require animal testing.
Thats great. They are working to convince the local governments that these products have already been proven safe in other areas without needing to be tested on animals. No doubt they have had some influence and prevented this from happening.
On the other hand they could make a moral choice to take it a step further. Refuse to offer their products in those municipalities that require testing. They know they are safe. Humans are using the stuff in other areas. If thats not good enough for that municipality, then that municipality is making the decision to deny the product to their consitituents.
Its a great start, they should be commended for taking the first step. They should also be encouraged to do the right thing and keep walking in that direction.
Unilever could make the following improvements: Post the municipalities publicly (world wide) that they are required to by law to do animal testing. They claim a commitment to transperency; lets make it truly transparent and name names. If it is a legal statute and requirement on the books then there should be no problem stating the fact of who requires the testing.
They can also refuse to sell those products that are required to be tested on animals in that area, and begin a marketing campaign stating why- Let the locals deal with thier governments and laws and get these unneccesary rules changed.
Here are some more links regarding farmed animal welfare: http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/consumer/welfare/
The five freedoms listed are a good start but do not include freedom from being stuck in a confined space. Also the five freedoms appear to be a bit ambigous. Who defines the standards? Who monitors and enforces the standards?
Heres the killer for me:
http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/consumer/gmos/
gmo stands for geneticly modified organism. Their stance? Allow geneticly modified organisms as ingredients in thier food. Looks like Im going on a snipe hunt to find out if my Peanut butter, my beloved Skippy PB is indeed natural.
Here is the whole wide world list of brands from Unilever- and Yes you will have to wait until Wikipedia is back online to see it unless you hit the stop button as soon as the page loads:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unilever_brands
Here is the list of their major brands:
Aviance
Axe/Lynx
Ben & Jerry's
Blue Band[27]
Dove
Flora/Becel
Heartbrand
Hellmann's
Knorr
Lipton
Lux / Radox
Omo/Surf
Rexona/Sure
Wish-Bone
Sunsilk
Toni & Guy[28][29]
TRESemmé
VO5
Do you use any of their stuff?
Ill post back here when I find out if their PB is GMO, or as I find more. Feel free to do your own research and share!
Since I am new-er to Veganism (practicing since November 1st!) I'm trying to 'Become Vegan' and not just practice it as a form of strict Vegetarianism. So that in my mind requires me to also look into the source of corporate foods and care products (Toiletries, soap, shampoo) so I am going to occasionaly post hat I find in my research.
Today it's Unilever's turn. Unilever is the parent Company of Skippy Peanut Butter. So far I like what I see at least from the corporate web site; they have publicly announced a campaign to eradicate animal testing in their products.
Here is a link:
http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/consumer/testing/index.aspx
The part I did not like is this:
We do not test finished products on animals unless demanded by the regulatory authorities in the few countries where this is the law. In such cases, we try to convince the local authorities to change the law. Where some testing of ingredients is required by law or currently unavoidable, we aim to minimise the number of animals used.
Thats just the start. Repeatedly Unilevers statements contain this message over and over again: They do not need to do aimal testing on their products because of careful analyzation of the ingredients and the analyzing the risks. EXCEPT when a government agency requires a company to do so.
There are a couple ways of looking at this. Its a start. Its an admission that responsible creation of food and care products can be done. They are proving it to be the case. Except when local governments, who they try to convince that it is not neccesary, refuse and require animal testing.
Thats great. They are working to convince the local governments that these products have already been proven safe in other areas without needing to be tested on animals. No doubt they have had some influence and prevented this from happening.
On the other hand they could make a moral choice to take it a step further. Refuse to offer their products in those municipalities that require testing. They know they are safe. Humans are using the stuff in other areas. If thats not good enough for that municipality, then that municipality is making the decision to deny the product to their consitituents.
Its a great start, they should be commended for taking the first step. They should also be encouraged to do the right thing and keep walking in that direction.
Unilever could make the following improvements: Post the municipalities publicly (world wide) that they are required to by law to do animal testing. They claim a commitment to transperency; lets make it truly transparent and name names. If it is a legal statute and requirement on the books then there should be no problem stating the fact of who requires the testing.
They can also refuse to sell those products that are required to be tested on animals in that area, and begin a marketing campaign stating why- Let the locals deal with thier governments and laws and get these unneccesary rules changed.
Here are some more links regarding farmed animal welfare: http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/consumer/welfare/
The five freedoms listed are a good start but do not include freedom from being stuck in a confined space. Also the five freedoms appear to be a bit ambigous. Who defines the standards? Who monitors and enforces the standards?
Heres the killer for me:
http://www.unilever.com/sustainability/consumer/gmos/
gmo stands for geneticly modified organism. Their stance? Allow geneticly modified organisms as ingredients in thier food. Looks like Im going on a snipe hunt to find out if my Peanut butter, my beloved Skippy PB is indeed natural.
Here is the whole wide world list of brands from Unilever- and Yes you will have to wait until Wikipedia is back online to see it unless you hit the stop button as soon as the page loads:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unilever_brands
Here is the list of their major brands:
Aviance
Axe/Lynx
Ben & Jerry's
Blue Band[27]
Dove
Flora/Becel
Heartbrand
Hellmann's
Knorr
Lipton
Lux / Radox
Omo/Surf
Rexona/Sure
Wish-Bone
Sunsilk
Toni & Guy[28][29]
TRESemmé
VO5
Do you use any of their stuff?
Ill post back here when I find out if their PB is GMO, or as I find more. Feel free to do your own research and share!
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Replies
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FYI - unless you're using vegetable-based soaps (you probably are by now), the soap base is rendered animal fat, including pets. Their Lever soap is not vegetable based.
Trader Joe's has some very nice and affordable vegetable-based soaps, but I doubt if the vegetable base is anything other than GMO soybeans. It's hard to avoid 100%. Outside the produce aisle, I find it takes a lot of effort in the average grocery store to avoid animal products. They're in everything, along with GMO corn, sugar, and salt.0 -
I don't buy any product that is from a subsidiary company of Unilever. I don't think they should be commended at all. All they are doing is passing the buck by saying they only test on animals when the government say they need to. Like you stated in your post, they could just avoid those areas, but they don't. They are happy to continue causing pain and suffering to thousands of animals and that's not good enough for me as a vegan.
You are doing everything right by doing your research, but as you have found out they do animal testing, you need to give up that brand of peanut butter if you wish to be vegan as oppose to strict vegetarian. I gave up my favourite food last year which is Marmite. It is made entirely from vegan ingredients, but is owned by Unilver.
I only buy toiletries that are certified cruelty free. I'm in the UK, so can't offer any specific brands recommendation, but if you go to the website below, you can select your country and find companies and products that will be perfect for you.
Catdoc, it does take a lot of effort in the average grocery store, but it is well worth it. It always amazed me how many products have milk/lactose/whey in them. When I became vegan, I must have spent 2 hours doing my usual 20 minute shop, but once you've spent the time reading the ingredients on the foods you want in your local store, you know what you can and can't have, so you're back to the usual shopping time.
If you have a smartphone, there are some wonderful free apps that make it a lot easier to find vegan food and drinks. If you want links for them, let me know.
http://www.gocrueltyfree.org/0 -
I always check that the foods that I buy are grown organically, without gmo's and fair trade (where applicable.) As far as household products and clothing go... I try to buy items that are as cruelty free as possible. I haven't used any Unilever brand in years and I will not in the future because of their history.0
This discussion has been closed.