Safe products without animal testing

Since the 1980s, Unilever has been working to eliminate animal testing without compromising on the safety of our products for consumers and the environment.

We’ve pioneered the use of alternatives to animal testing for decades, including computer modelling and cell culture-based experiments, publishing over 600 scientific papers.

We share our experience with scientists around the world and we’re recognised by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as a company working for regulatory change.

More than 20 of our brands, including eight of our Power Brands – the biggest in Unilever – are independently certified as no animal testing, vegan and/or cruelty free by global animal protection NGOs. We are also approved under PETA’s ‘no animal testing’ list as part of its Eat Without Experiments programme for foods and beverages, certifying that Unilever does not conduct or fund animal testing for any purpose.

Our long-term commitment to non-animal safety science isn’t just the responsible thing to do, it’s the right direction for our business and brands in strengthening consumer trust as we create Desire at Scale.

Does Unilever test on animals?

No. Unilever does not test on animals, and we believe that animal testing is not needed to make sure that our products are safe for people to use and safe for our planet. This is set out in our public position statement on animal testing (PDF 453.27 KB).

As part of our commitment to ending animal testing globally, some of the biggest brands in Unilever work with partners to ensure that their products and ingredients are not tested on animals by us, by our suppliers, or by regulatory authorities anywhere in the world. Their commitment to no animal testing by anyone, anywhere, is certified by global animal protection groups.

Very occasionally, across our broader portfolio of brands, some ingredients that we use must still be tested by suppliers by law, to comply with regulatory requirements in some markets; and some government authorities, such as China, test certain products on animals as part of their regulations.

We do not agree that animal testing is necessary to assure the safety of our ingredients and products and we advocate globally for the freedom to use non-animal approaches instead. We’re proud to be recognised by PETA as a company working for regulatory change.

What’s the business case for non-animal testing methods?

Safety is our first priority, which is why we use the latest science instead of outdated animal testing.

The next generation non-animal safety approaches that now exist provide significant scientific and ethical benefits over animal tests, some of which date from the first half of the last century.

Non-animal approaches help our safety scientists assess product and ingredients safety with confidence and facilitate sustainable product and ingredient innovation.

What are Unilever’s certified no animal testing brands?

Explore the Unilever brands certified by various global animal protection NGOs below.

Why do some Unilever brands have different cruelty-free certifications?

Certain brands listed were acquired with their cruelty-free certification, such as PETA or Leaping Bunny, and commit to requirements set out by the certification body.

What does it mean to be certified for no animal testing, or as vegan or cruelty free?

All Unilever’s NGO‑certified brands are committed to meeting the ongoing requirements of their respective certifications for no animal testing, vegan and cruelty‑free claims. Certification is supported by ongoing work, not a one‑time check.

Brands making vegan and/or no animal testing claims must continuously meet strict requirements, with significant time and resources dedicated to ensuring that products labelled as no animal testing or vegan continue to meet expectations over time, not just at launch.

For our PETA‑approved brands, we follow PETA’s definition of cruelty‑free. This means that only brands certified for both no animal testing and vegan across their entire global portfolio can describe themselves as a cruelty‑free brand. Many of our PETA-approved brands are certified globally for no animal testing and also offer vegan products.

How is Unilever advancing non-animal safety science?

Unilever has funded research to advance non-animal safety science for almost 50 years and published over 600 scientific research papers during that time.

We collaborate with over 70 partners globally to develop, evaluate and apply non-animal safety approaches.

This includes partnerships with the US Division of the National Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Test Methods (DNICEATM) and US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to evaluate non-animal safety assessment approaches.

In addition to scientific research collaborations, we also share our experience of applying non-animal safety approaches with regulatory authority and government scientists in the EU, US, UK and China to help accelerate their regulatory acceptance.

How does Unilever advocate for non-animal testing approaches for product safety?

We do not agree that animal testing is necessary to assure product safety and we advocate globally for regulatory use of non-animal approaches.

For over forty years, Unilever has co-led European research programmes to advance non-animal approaches, working closely with trade association Cosmetics Europe.

We published the first fully non-animal regulatory dossier for a cosmetic ingredient, created for discussion with the EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS).

Unilever has also co-led discussions that helped create the principles for Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) approaches for Cosmetic Product Safety under the International Cooperation on Cosmetic Regulation (ICCR).

How does Unilever advocate for non-animal approaches to assess the safety of ingredients?

We don’t agree with regulations that demand animal testing of the ingredients in our products, particularly when there is a long history of safe use and manufacture.

We are partnering with experts worldwide, including government authorities, animal protection NGOs, and our suppliers, to end regulatory animal testing for our ingredients.

In 2023, the European Commission announced plans to develop a roadmap to phase out animal testing for chemical safety in response to the successful Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which was supported by Dove.

We have played a key role in developing the European Commission’s roadmap, through our leadership of the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) that we co-founded in 2005.

What’s next for Unilever’s work in championing alternatives to animal testing?

The next decade will be critical for advancing regulatory use of animal-free testing approaches beyond cosmetics safety, and implementing harmonised global standards and best practice for ingredient safety assessments without animal testing.

We recognise the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in accelerating validation and regulatory use of non-animal approaches, and we are actively developing new partnerships in this area to strengthen our existing capabilities.