Although the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act does not require animal testing for cosmetic safety, FDA strongly urges cosmetic manufacturers to conduct whatever tests are appropriate to establish that their cosmetics are safe.
Cosmetic products that have not been tested for safety must have a warning statement on the front label which reads, "WARNING -- The safety of this product has not been determined."
FDA is currently working with various government and private organizations to develop alternatives to animal testing in assessing cosmetic safety. Until such methods are proven to be reliable and accepted by the scientific community, FDA believes that the use of animals is necessary to ensure the safety of cosmetic products.
Source: fda.org
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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3 comments:
I think that the wording of this post implies that methods of testing that do not include animal testing are unreliable which is not true. Animal testing is not only outdated and cruel but also dangerous to the consumer. The reaction an animal has to a particular substance is not indicative of how a human being will react to the same substance. For example, asprin causes birth defects in rats and mice and kills cats yet it is safe in humans and penicillin which is highly toxic to guinea pigs and hamsters yet not toxic at all for human beings. There are substances which have been proven safe for humans through animal tests which have been later found to cause serious side effects or even death in humans. Many responsible and reliable companies have adopted non animal testing methods to ensure the safety of their products and many more continue to do so.
I appreciate the clarity that Kaye has added to this statement from the FDA. I've often wondered if a product was safe for a lab rat, is it really safe for me? Or kids? Aren't humans just a tiny bit different from rats? Kaye, you mentioned that many reliable companies (and I DO believe that MOST companies are reliable and not out there to get us) have adopted non-animal testing methods. What other kinds of tests are there?
Kieth please visit PETA's.com website for other methods of testing and additional info.
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