Reader Randy Sandberg reminds us that while
Tahitian Noni and Ocean Spray joined Welch's club of "we don'tHe also rightly suggests that you might want to thank Tahitian Noni, Ocean Spray, and of course Welch's for stopping their torturous practices.
test on animals any more"! ... POM "Wonderful" continues to test on animals.
Though I don't always say so, nor provide the links to do so, I always recommend sending a "stick" or a "carrot" in the form of an e-mail or a letter to all parties involved if can you spare the 5 minutes. A few letters go a long way.
In a blog-worthy postscript, Randy asks:
Doesn't it freak you out to think "juice" companies test on animals? It's almost where one needs a "not tested on animals" sticker on just about everything we buy these days. Can you imagine not buying a cantaloupe because there's no sticker ;-) But, really, this has certainly opened my eyes to areas of animal exploitation I never dreamed of.It is disturbing. I didn't freak out when I found out that the juice companies were doing this. Sadly, I wasn't even surprised. It's demonstrative of the entire whacked-out research system we have, and it needs to be reformed. With the help of folks like those over at PETA, it looks like some companies are slowly moving in that direction. In the meantime, governments need to catch up. A lot of corporations only test certain ingredients because the government requires it. While it seems like democratic governments are less responsive to their citizens than ever, I'd suggest that's because people have become too complacent. Raise enough fuss, and the government will have to re-examine its policies. After all, the testing requirement is ostensibly in place for our safety. If we reject that particular aspect of product testing, then the powers-that-be will have to listen.
Randy has also contacted POM about his disdain for their testing practices, and expects to e-mail Whole Foods Market this week, having heard from certain WFM salespeople that they don't carry products tested on animals. With that information, I wrote WFM's customer service moments ago:
It has come to my attention that WFM may have a policy against stocking products that have been tested on animals. If that is the case, WFM may not be aware that POM funds animal tests to back up health claims made by the manufacturer.I'll be sure to post any reply here.
Welch's, Ocean Spray, and Tahitian Noni have all discontinued testing on animals to make health claims, but POM stands out as a trendy beverage alternative that exploits animals in order to gain market share, which seems to me contrary to WFM's ethical standards.
Please discontinue carrying POM's products until they join other juice companies in ending their barbaric and unnecessary animal experiments.
More at http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/pom
Thanks, Randy!
UPDATE: Heard from Randy later on. He tells me he had actually sent an e-mail to WFM last night, and this was their response:
Thank you for your contacting Whole Foods Market with your concerns. We have a very strict policy against animal testing when it comes to cleaning and body care products. However, when it comes to consumables we evaluate these things on a case by case basis. At this time we will not be removing POM from our shelves.It's terribly disappointing how much this response glosses over the testing for "consumables." We're not talking about an essential food item here, and we're talking about forcing diseases on to animals so that the health claims of a beverage can be backed up! If I get the same response, I will certainly take this up the ladder.
We hope that you understand that animal welfare is very important to us as evidenced by our Animal Compassion Standards and Foundation as well as removing all live lobster tanks from our stores. We truly appreciate your feedback and will forward your comments to our quality standards team.
As Randy suggested in his e-mail, WFM could be a powerful player in pressuring POM to end their testing. But if WFM won't do that, nor take the step of removing POM from their shelves, then perhaps they will respond when their customers wisely leave POM products on the shelves. Retail space at Whole Foods comes at a premium. If the product isn't moving, and enough people submit comments on those colorful slips of paper, we can perhaps win a victory for the animals in this one little battle. Also, I wouldn't have a problem with informative literature ending up taped to individual bottles for retail sale, or perhaps handed out to the public on their way in or out of the stores.
Tags: juice | POM | animal testing | animal research | animal experimentation | PETA
