In recent years, the public has paid more and more attention to animal welfare, and various “cruelty-free” or “vegan” declarations have been released.
But wait a minute—what does the “cruelty-free” that these industry players are talking about? Is it “cruelless” as long as you embrace a kind heart that loves animals? What is “cruel” behind these fascinating teeth whitening products? After reading the following 8 truths about “cruelty-free”, we were shocked-the words and icons
on the original product label hide so many mysteries. It turns out that every mundane consumer behavior of ours is a major decision of cruelty or not.
1. What is “cruelty-free”?
“Cruelty-Free” means that something (including its raw materials) is “free of animal experimentation” from research and development, manufacturing to sales.
2. What is “animal experiment”?
In the field of beauty and cosmetics, in order to test the safety of products, companies will imprison animals in small cages that can accommodate them, force them to inhale standard chemical agents, or apply them to their bare skin or eyes, or even directly inject them into Inside them.
Some animals will die of lesions during the experiment, and some will suffer irreversible physical and mental damage after torture. Finally, in order to further examine the response of cells and organs to the drugs, most of them were still executed.
In their short life, they knew nothing but fear and pain.
This type of experiment usually uses mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, etc. as experimental objects. Among them, the brutal process of rabbits undergoing the acute toxicity test “Draize Test” is particularly shocking and has become a spiritual symbol of “cruelty-free”. All major “cruelty-free” certification organizations use rabbits as their logo.
3. “Animal testing” is not a necessary means to verify product safety
“Animal testing” is just one of many ways to test product safety. With the increasing advancement of science, in vitro experiments, cell cultivation, computer simulation and other technologies can test the effects of products on the human body, and the operation is faster and cheaper than “animal experiments.”
For example, for the same toxicity test, the cruel “Dreitz test” takes at least three days to complete, and the “agar diffusion method” that does not harm animals takes only 24 hours, and it costs only 10% of the Draize test. One part.
4. “Vegan” does not mean “cruelty-free”
In a narrow sense, “vegan” means that something does not contain any animal ingredients-the so-called “animal ingredients” include products made by animals, such as honey.
Both “cruel free” and “vegan” focus on reducing human dependence on or harm to animals, but the definitions of the two are quite different-“cruel free” products may contain animal ingredients, and “vegan” products may also undergo animal experiments.
5. “Natural and organic” does not mean “cruelty-free”
“Natural”, “organic” and “vegan” are the same-they all refer to the “ingredients” of the product, and there is no absolute causal relationship between whether the product or its raw materials have been tested on animals. In other words, products with natural ingredients may also be tested on animals.
6. The words “no animal experimentation” on the packaging or promotional materials do not guarantee “cruelty-free”
Unfortunately-products marked “no animal testing” on the packaging are not necessarily cruelty-free products.
Since the division of labor in the product manufacturing process is quite complicated, it is not as easy as it sounds to distinguish whether a product is cruelty-free. Terms such as “no animal experimentation” and other terms have not stipulated strict usage specifications, allowing unscrupulous industry players to manipulate word games to confuse consumers.
In order to prevent consumers from being misled by speculators, the “Rabbit badge” was born.
7. What is the “Rabbit badge”?
In order to help consumers identify the authenticity of cruelty-free brands, some organizations have designed unique “rabbit badges” and opened brand owners to apply for them. Brands that have passed the review can display the “rabbit badges” on product packaging or promotional materials. This proves to consumers that they are cruelty-free.
At present, the more common bunny marks on the market include: Leaping Bunny, PETA mark and CCF mark.
8. Not all bunny patterns are “bunny badges”
In addition to the three aforementioned bunny badges, there are various other bunny patterns on the beauty market, which can be roughly classified into three categories based on the nature of the source:
“Rabbit Mark” issued by other certification organizations
The scale of these certification organizations is relatively small, and the penetration rate of the label is also relatively low. For example: the “Rabbit with Protecting Hand” mark issued by the German Society for the Prevention of fo Cruelty to Animals.
Cruelty-free brand’s own design of “Rabbit badge”
Although some brands pursue “cruelty-free”, for some reasons they have not obtained the rabbit mark issued by the organization (perhaps because there is no budget for paying the certification fee). In order to convey the brand’s “cruelty-free” value to consumers, they may use their own design of rabbits on products or promotional materials.
Fake! The rabbit pattern used by speculative brands to mislead the public
Unfortunately, there are always some brands that are accustomed to speculation. Their actions do not meet the public’s expectations of “cruelty-free”. Instead, they use rabbit patterns to create a false impression, and even steal the rabbit mark of the certification organization to induce support for “cruelty-free.” Consumers spend money to buy; this is why we have to spend a little effort to understand the true meaning of “cruelty-free” in order to make accurate consumer decisions that best suit our own values.
