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Page 2 of 3 Cosmetics companies started testing ingredients on animals several decades ago. "The development of a new shampoo may cost the lives of up to 10,000 animals," Refua says. "Every new ingredient put into a product is tested on some 2,000 to 3,000 animals, and sometimes there are also experiments with the finished product, so the numbers are appalling." Every experiment uses two types of animals: rodents such as guinea pigs, rats, mice and rabbits, and mammals during experiments' second phase, including cats, dogs, pigs and monkeys.
According to Refua, "about 60 percent of all detergents and cosmetics sold in Israel are produced by companies that practice testing on animals." She says that "the biggest distributor of these products in Israel is the U.S. firm Procter & Gamble, which still uses animal testing." Procter & Gamble's response: "The company stopped testing its cosmetic products on animals in 1999. In addition, the company does not ask its suppliers to perform tests on its behalf. Moreover, the company does not test the ingredients of its cosmetic products on animals, except for extremely rare cases when it needs to do so in order to meet regulatory or safety demands."
But Refua calls this an evasive answer. "There are no regulatory demands or any law that compel them to test on animals. Everything can be tested using alternative methods that do not harm animals, and as long as they fail to do so they will remain classified as a company that practices animal testing and shunned by the public."
Procter & Gamble: "The company is a world leader in searching for alternatives to animal testing, and as a result some 50 alternative testing methods have been developed, which were described in over 300 scientific publications. The company's policy, together with the law, obligates us to ensure that our products are safe for the consumers, our employees and the environment. In Israel, as in the rest of the world, Procter & Gamble follows and will continue to follow the letter of the law."
And what should a conscientious shopper do until the new laws take effect? At the moment, it's not that simple. The Israeli consumer will find it hard to distinguish between an animal-tested product and one that was not developed using such methods.
In most of the world it's a very simple matter: products carrying the "leaping bunny" logo have not been tested on animals. The procedure for obtaining the logo is clear; the Coalition for Consumer Information in Cosmetics (CCIC), which operates in Canada, the U.S. and the European Union, has set criteria. A product imported to Israel from one of these areas will carry the bunny logo if it meets the requirements.
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