There are a growing number of cruelty free and vegan brands on the rise - which is great! But did you know that some of these brands are owned by parent companies that still test on animals?
A parent company is essentially a company that owns and controls a majority of another company, usually a collection of them. Parent companies tend to be large organizations. The issue here when it comes to cruelty free living, is that even though a brand might be fully cruelty free and/or vegan, the parent company may still test on animals.
One perspective is that by supporting a cruelty free or vegan brand, consumers are showing a demand for it which could put pressure on parent companies to change their practices or create similar products. The other perspective is that your money is still supporting animal testing in a round-a-bout way.
When it comes to what "cruelty free" truly means, there is such a large gray area. Leaping Bunny is the gold standard certifying agency, but there are other agencies that do not require very much proof in order to give their "certified cruelty free" stamp of approval. This makes it even more difficult to navigate the already murky waters.
AND to make things even more confusing, being cruelty free only applies to animal testing. Certified cruelty free products can still contain animal parts or by-products within their ingredients, therefore they may not be considered vegan.
This guide can be used to more easily identify the parent companies that do test on animals and the brands they own, which are commonly found in stores. Brands that are considered vegan are marked with a V.r vegan
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