US 'Cruelty-free' products that are not vegan?

[Gravitational_collapse]

is this a pain-point for you too as a vegan?. don't you hate it when products say "cruelty-free" but aren't actually vegan?

 

[Lou]

Good question. I'm not sure of the answer.

but I think its sort of like this.

Cruelty free denotes free from animal testing. and yeah, although it seems counter-intuitive it does not denote a product that includes No animal derived products. I think this is the important distinction. I buy cruelty free shampoo and I don't think it includes animal products. but it doesn't claim to be vegan.

but what if an animal free product was tested on animals. would it be vegan but not cruelty free?

 

[Gravitational_collapse]

Good question. I'm not sure of the answer.

but I think its sort of like this.

Cruelty free denotes free from animal testing. and yeah, although it seems counter-intuitive it does not denote a product that includes No animal derived products. I think this is the important distinction. I buy cruelty free shampoo and I don't think it includes animal products. but it doesn't claim to be vegan.

but what if an animal free product was tested on animals. would it be vegan but not cruelty free?

well by definition it wouldn't be vegan. I think companies don't understand what cruelty free is. cruelty free should extend from vegan don't you think?

 

[Lou]

well by definition it wouldn't be vegan. I think companies don't understand what cruelty free is. cruelty free should extend from vegan don't you think?

yeah, but I think Vegan is generally about what you eat. While cruelty free is more about beauty products.

I just remembered that my PETA mentor brought this up with me. About how some items at the drug store are labeled Cruelty free but are not vegan.

Looking that up I found this.

Cruelty-free means that the product was developed without any tests on animals, while vegan means that the product does not include any animal-derived ingredients.​

​

To make shopping for vegan products even easier, many of our favorite brands that don’t test on animals label which of their products are vegan on their websites.​

Vegan Makeup Products From Cruelty-Free Brands | PETA

Many companies clearly label their vegan makeup products. Check this list to know what to look for from some of your favorite brands!

www.peta.org

and there is this too.

What’s the difference between cruelty-free vs vegan? Short Answer: “Cruelty-Free” generally implies no animal testing occurred whereas “Vegan” generally implies the products do not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.​

​

A product can be both, or one but not the other. This is a concept I’m going to dive in deeper with real-life examples down below​

Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan: Understanding the Differences and Why They Matter

'Cruelty-Free' means no animal testing, while 'Vegan' refers to no animal-derived ingredients. Here's everything else you need to know.

ethicalelephant.com

That article even includes some Venn diagrams!

As far as why there are cruelty free products that aren't vegan. My best guess is that a person shopping for lipstick may choose the cruelty free product - but they aren't vegan. So the "Vegan" product gets ignored. (and yeah, that shows some kind of disconnect - but we already know that nonvegans are very capable at cognitive dissonance. )

Keep in mind that it wasn't so long ago that some marketing guys recommended NOT using a vegan label or their products. They had polling results where consumers equated "Vegan" with "tastes bad". So maybe its just that in some parts of the marketplace, cruelty free sells better than vegan.

 

[Gravitational_collapse]

yeah, but I think Vegan is generally about what you eat. While cruelty free is more about beauty products.

I just remembered that my PETA mentor brought this up with me. About how some items at the drug store are labeled Cruelty free but are not vegan.

Looking that up I found this.

Cruelty-free means that the product was developed without any tests on animals, while vegan means that the product does not include any animal-derived ingredients.​

​

To make shopping for vegan products even easier, many of our favorite brands that don’t test on animals label which of their products are vegan on their websites.​

Vegan Makeup Products From Cruelty-Free Brands | PETA

Many companies clearly label their vegan makeup products. Check this list to know what to look for from some of your favorite brands!

www.peta.org

and there is this too.

What’s the difference between cruelty-free vs vegan? Short Answer: “Cruelty-Free” generally implies no animal testing occurred whereas “Vegan” generally implies the products do not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.​

​

A product can be both, or one but not the other. This is a concept I’m going to dive in deeper with real-life examples down below​

Cruelty-Free vs. Vegan: Understanding the Differences and Why They Matter

'Cruelty-Free' means no animal testing, while 'Vegan' refers to no animal-derived ingredients. Here's everything else you need to know.

ethicalelephant.com

That article even includes some Venn diagrams!

As far as why there are cruelty free products that aren't vegan. My best guess is that a person shopping for lipstick may choose the cruelty free product - but they aren't vegan. So the "Vegan" product gets ignored. (and yeah, that shows some kind of disconnect - but we already know that nonvegans are very capable at cognitive dissonance. )

Keep in mind that it wasn't so long ago that some marketing guys recommended NOT using a vegan label or their products. They had polling results where consumers equated "Vegan" with "tastes bad". So maybe its just that in some parts of the marketplace, cruelty free sells better than vegan.

awesome! thank you for this.

 

[HappyVegan66]

I think that some companies just want to hope on the trend of being vegan, I think it's very unfair to say something is vegan when it's not. There needs to be some sort of laws in place to stop that! I did just recently discover this new vegan and eco-friendly paint brand, unlike some of the big paint brands that not there yet with vegan paints and being fully eco-friendly, Victory Colours is ahead of the game. I would 100% recommend if anyone is on the hunt for any vegan paints, such a wonderful thing to discover.

 

[Lou]

I think that some companies just want to hope on the trend of being vegan, I think it's very unfair to say something is vegan when it's not.

That's a separate issue. The issue we were discussing was how "cruelty free items could NOT be vegan"
short answer: they include animal products. For the long answer check out the Ethical Elephant's article.

There needs to be some sort of laws in place to stop that!

There are. Truth in advertising. I don't think the USDA does anything about it like they do for the labeling of organic produce (there are standards in place and checks. And fines if they catch someone misusing the label)

But the FDA is involved in the Plant Based Meats area. As far as I know they are still finalizing their guidelines.

I think the EU has better laws/controls than the US.

Here in the US there are organizations that for a fee will come check out your product and sell you a label saying "vegan certified". Of course you'll never see that on produce - but you do sometimes see it on processed foods like frozen dinners.