Battle Creek’s Kellogg Company has acquiesced to the requests of an international animal rights group, and changed their policy on animal testing.

MLive says that the cereal giant made the update to their Animal Welfare statement in December, which states in part that “Kellogg does not conduct, fund, support, or condone the use of animal testing for food products or ingredients that are not required for food safety or quality”. Kellogg had as recently as 2016 funded research involving mice to test the effects of an iron additive in ready-to-eat cereals.

This move follows over ten years of effort by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who says they first contacted Kellogg about ending animal testing back in 2007. PETA says that over the years of dialogue with the company, they made some progress, but none as dramatic as this new statement. In updating their animal welfare policy in December, Kellogg’s also pledged to source only cage-free eggs in their largest markets by 2025, and to consider internationally recognized standards for animal care as part of their supply chain.

Even with this effort, the changes only affect a small portion of Kellogg's products, as they say 95 percent of their products have no animal ingredients, and 99 percent are meatless.

 

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