Mars and animal testing
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA) is calling for a boycott of all Mars
confectionery products, after the company admitted testing
flavanols, a "healthy" chocolate ingredient, on animals.
Group spokesperson Shalin Gala told ConfectioneryNews.com
that PETA has decided to target Mars because of its 'unnecessary and cruel animal tests that are apparently
designed to help bolster health marketing claims for its
chocolate candies.'
The case highlights the conundrum facing
chocolate manufacturers eager to cash in on the "healthy
chocolate" product trend. While stringent scientific research
is needed to validate the efficacy of these items, many
consumers and advocacy groups are not willing to condone
invasive investigative procedures on animals.
Christophe Dandoy, director of communications for Mars
France, admitted that the business division Symbioscience
does test on animals while developing "pharmaceutical and
therapeutic food ingredients", including flavanols. He also
claimed, however, that the Mars is still committed to animal
welfare, and does not test on animals when developing other
products for the food, beverage or pet care divisions. "Although we do care about animals, we have to by law test on
animals when developing products that contain flavanols,
because of the pharmaceutical regulations," he said.
Masterfoods US, which owns the Mars brand, has conducted over
15 years of research into the benefits of cocoa flavanols,
and owns the patent for its Cocoapro process, which extracts
naturally occurring antioxidant flavanols from cocoa beans.
In recent years Mars has used flavanols as an ingredient in
its CocoaVia range, claiming that these chocolate bars help lower cholesterol. According to PETA, the experimentation
methods currently being used are extremely cruel and painful
for the animals being used. Tests include cutting open the
legs of live rats to reveal arteries, allowing scientists to
determine the effect of chocolate ingredients on blood flow,
PETA claims.
Other experiments carried out by Mars include forcing
flavanol-fed rats to swim in a mixture of white paint and
water, injecting cocoa ingredients into the jugular veins of
animals, and submerging baby mice in chilled containers for
five hours at a time, the group added.
As well as encouraging consumers to boycott all Mars
products, PETA has also urged the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Mars's advertising practices, as the
group claims that Mars uses 'deceptive and misleading
terminology' in marketing campaigns. These lead consumers
into thinking that the company does not in fact test any
products on animals, PETA claims. "We request that you launch an investigation into Mars'
false-advertising practices…… to prevent the company from
causing further injury to consumers who are currently being
deceived when making purchasing decisions," PETA said in a
letter to the FTC.
PETA also praised other food companies such as Hershey,
which, unlike Mars, are still refusing to test any products
on animals. These companies have realised that it is possible to
substantiate health claims without animal tests, PETA said. "Hershey's program of humane non-animal research is an
excellent model that the rest of the confectionary industry
should seek to emulate," Gala said. "We are currently looking
into other confectionary companies' testing practices to
determine whether unnecessary and cruel testing on animals is
taking place."
However, Swiss-based company Barry Callebaut told
ConfectioneryNews.com that it is in fact necessary to test
products containing flavanols on animals, as it is required
by law. "But no animals suffer when Barry Callebaut carries out
testing on animals," she said.