The French group, a global supplier of aromatic raw materials, joins dozens of food giants in adopting a policy banning animal testing.
Following discussions with PETA USA, the French Robertet group - the world's ninth largest flavour and fragrance company - has adopted a new policy prohibiting all animal experimentation, unless required by law. The company had previously participated in a joint experiment in which it chemically analyzed the characteristics of rosemary leaf extract, while experimenters from another company fed 30 mice a high-fat diet to induce obesity. They then administered the extract to a group of mice, injected them with glucose, took several blood samples, then killed and dissected them.
"By rejecting animal experimentation, Robertet is keeping in step with public opinion and scientific advances, which are increasingly moving away from this archaic practice," says Mimi Bekhechi, PETA's Director of International Programs. "We call on other companies in the food and beverage sector to follow Robertet's example and ban cruel, unnecessary - and often simply curiosity-driven - experiments on animals."
Robertet joins a growing list of dozens of companies, including Barilla, the Coca-Cola Company, the Kellogg Company, Kikkoman, Lipton, Ocean Spray, PepsiCo and others, who have collaborated with PETA USA scientists to replace animal testing with more effective, ethical and less expensive non-animal research models.
