13 Japanese Companies Agree to Ban Animal Testing

A group of 13 Japanese companies (including Nissin Foods, parent company of Top Ramen and Cup Noodles) recently committed to removing animal testing—unless it is required by law—from their company policies. Animal-rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been working with the companies since March to commit to the ban, which will eliminate testing products on animals in order to make health claims. “Having successfully pushed the cosmetics industry to largely abandon cruel and deadly animal tests, PETA is now leading the global effort to ban this shameful practice by makers of foods from beer to ramen noodles,” PETA vice president Shalin Gala told Foodnavigator-Asia. “All food companies should embrace modern, animal-free research methods and stop harming animals to make product health claims that are not required by law.” PETA will monitor each company’s commitment to pursuing testing methods that do not exploit animals and pressure them to find human-relevant methods, should they breach their commitments.