M&M’s, a cute, fun, and chocolate quenching snack! I used to eat the tube of minis from the store when I was little. BEFORE I went Vegan, I stopped eating them because I found out that MARS (the parent company that owns them), takes part in animal testing.
(I have attached the link to this information below in addition to a screenshot from their website (2023) speaking to this point).
If you notice, the internet highlights the first sentence, “In the day-to-day development of our products and services we do not undertake, support or sponsor studies that harm animals,” giving immediate “satisfaction” to the consumer, knowing that most people don’t like to read further… but the truth lies within the blue highlights and then some.
They DO take part in scientific research with dogs, cats, fish, and horses and say that they conduct the research at the highest welfare and ethical standards. But is any testing ethical? Animals are restrained, and deprived of a natural environment which skews results and creates inaccuracies.
They say that they do not endorse animal testing, and strive to replace it, meanwhile, it is a part of their business in order to proceed in development. They mention under the Food Safety section that:
“On very rare occasions, we need to introduce a new raw material that has not been used in foods before. Legal and regulatory requirements compel us to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of this new raw material. In other circumstances, we may need to provide safety data on existing ingredients as part of due diligence upon scientific review. In these isolated instances we may sponsor a limited number of studies involving rats, mice, fish and other aquatic species.”
Why are we continuing to test existing ingredients in addition to newly developed ones? If something is not natural or safe for us to eat, why would we eat it? We are talking about candy and snacks, something that is so far from a necessity, and if children knew what went on behind their candy bars, they would be scarred for life. Would you show your child who suffered to make their candy bar?
Some of the MARS brands include:
Snickers
3 Musketeers
Altoidis
Pedigree
Combos
Life Savers
Starburst
Milky Way
And these are not all of their products.
Alternative Brands:
Choco No No’s
Choco Yum’s
Unreal
Max Sweets Yum Yums
Love Raw
7th Heaven
Enjoy Life
Cocomels
Based on the law, it is written that lab animals must be thoroughly taken care of, but in all of the years of animal testing taking place, it has been documented that this is not the case.
Here you can find the legal requirements:
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title7/chapter54&edition=prelim
https://www.nal.usda.gov/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-welfare-act
This is all just a little insight into what we are not fully educated on. It is important to know what you are eating and how it affects others. Do you want to cause harm to another being specifically knowing that what you want is not a need? And even if it was, there is no reason for us to go about using animals for testing purposes. There are much more accurate and up-to-date testing practices that are proven to produce more accurate results while not harming anyone in the process.
Some examples include:
Organs-on-chips
Computational modeling and in silico testing
In vitro testing
3D bioprinting
How can YOU make a difference? Simply buy purchasing products that don’t support such methods. It is valuable to know, and impactful to understand and do something about it.
Thank you so much for reading guys! I truly appreciate it.
Love always,
Lauren
Information on MARS and its Animal Research Policy can be found here:
https://www.mars.com/about/policies-and-practices/our-animal-research-policy#:~:text=To%20maintain%20consumer%20trust%2C%20we,sponsor%20studies%20that%20harm%20animals.