Victory! Nine Japan-Based Companies End Tests on Animals

It’s a happy day for thousands of animals in laboratories, as nine global food and beverage giants have, after discussions with PETA U.S., committed to ending cruel tests on animals to establish health claims for their products.

Here’s what you need to know about the nine companies that have made this compassionate move:

• Tokyo-based Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd., was the first; it’s the corporate owner of Maruchan, the largest North American producer of instant ramen noodles.
• You may know Asahi Group Holdings for its Asahi Super Dry and Peroni beers, and the global beer, spirits, soft drinks, and food company is responsible for many other international brands as well.
• Not to be outdone, Meiji competitor Ezaki Glico is a leading confectionary company that does business in more than 30 countries.
• Kewpie Corporation is Asia’s largest producer of mayonnaise and dressing products, including a vegan mayonnaise.
• The world’s fourth-largest candy company—Meiji Holdings—is bigger than Nestlé and The Hershey Company—makes chocolate, candy, and cookies, including Stauffer’s Animal Crackers (which are vegan).
• Nissin Foods Holdings Co., Ltd. is the corporate owner of Top Ramen, the well-known instant ramen brand with vegetarian flavors.
• Sapporo Holdings is the oldest beer brand in Japan and makes the best-selling Asian beer in the U.S.
• International food-processing company, Satake Corporation, is the owner of Magic Rice and Magic Pasta.
• Leading beverage company Suntory Holdings, Ltd., whose brands include Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, and EFFEN and Pinnacle vodkas, is the world’s third-largest producer of distilled beverages.

In deadly tests previously conducted or commissioned by these companies—which used more than 2,000 mice, rats, and hamsters over a two-year period—experimenters starved and force-fed animals; injected them with chemicals, alcohol, and cancer cells; forced them to swim for hours; broke their necks; drained their blood; exposed, cut off, and electrocuted their nerves; severed their intestines; gassed them; and killed and dissected them. None of the experiments were required by law.

PETA and its affiliates are leading the global effort to spare the lives of thousands of animals used in deadly food-industry experiments and replace them with humane, effective, economical, and modern animal-free research tools. These five companies join a growing list of major corporations—including Barilla, The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, House Foods, ITO EN, James White Drinks, Kikkoman, Lipton, Ocean Spray, PepsiCo, POM Wonderful, Riken Vitamin, T. Hasegawa, Welch’s, and Yakult Honsha, which together have hundreds of billions of dollars in annual global sales and are proof that food companies don’t need to harm animals in experiments in order to make health marketing claims.

What You Can Do

Go cruelty-free! The best way to stop companies, universities, and charities from using animals is to refuse to purchase their products or give them donations. Write to tell them that they won’t receive your support until they stop testing on animals.

Take a stand against animal testing by pledging to support only cruelty-free companies and charities. You can find out which of your favorite products are animal-friendly by searching PETA U.S.’ online database of companies that do and that don’t test on animals.