Cruelty-free

Products developed without animal testing. A separate axis from vegan.

Definition, and a common confusion

Cruelty-free means no animal testing in the development of the product or its ingredients. It is a different question from vegan: a product can be free of animal testing and still contain animal-derived ingredients such as honey, lanolin or carmine, and the reverse also happens.

Japan does not require animal testing to market general cosmetics. Quasi-drugs are different — depending on the ingredient, safety data may be required. Testing can also be triggered by the regulations of export markets, which makes “where is this sold?” a relevant question.

What to check

Third-party certification such as Leaping Bunny
Whether the claim covers the company, its contractors and its ingredient suppliers
Animal-derived ingredients — check the vegan claim separately
Whether the product is a cosmetic or a quasi-drug