The breakfast cereal giant has updated its global policy to not condone, fund or conduct animal testing – something it has purportedly done for 65 years, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Kris Bahner, senior VP of Kellogg Global Corporate Affairs told BakeryandSnacks that the food manufacturer is largely a plant-based company.
“Approximately 95% of the ingredients in Kellogg foods have no animal products, and 99% of our foods are meatless,” he said.
“We recently added clarity around animal testing to an existing commitment to reflect practices that have been in place for several years.
“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.”
Unless explicitly required by law
According to the company’s Responsible Sourcing – Animal Welfare Commitment (updated December 2018), tests will be conducted by accredited third-party facilities if decreed by governmental agencies.
‘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,’ it reads, adding, ‘We do not maintain any testing facilities.
‘We support replacing animal testing with other validated methods to ensure the safety and quality of new food ingredients.’
PETA’s involvement
PETA has applauded the Battle Creek-based company.
"All over the world, food processors are becoming aware of the fact that no marketing name can justify the gavage, poisoning, suffocation and slaughter of harmless rats in cruel and fatal experiments," Mathilde Dorbessan, business communications manager for PETA France told this site.
"PETA applauds the Kellogg Company's decision to turn to more effective research methods that do not exploit animals."
According to the animal rights organization, the Special K and Froot Loops maker had been testing on animals since the early 1950s.
An email from PETA France to BakeryandSnacks stated that, between 1995 to 2016, Kellogg led, funded or provided equipment for experiments on 1,213 rats and 60 hamsters.
It added PETA USA had first called on Kellogg to stop practicing and fund animal experimentation back in 2007.
In the following years, the company undertook to reduce and limit the scope of its tests on animals, requiring audits of all the experimental laboratories with which it worked, and eliminating animal experimentation in its own labs.
This new policy, finalized last week, prohibits the conduct, financing, support and endorsement of animal testing, PETA France told this site.
In 2016, Kellogg’s made a pledge to source 100% cage-free eggs in their largest markets by 2025.