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Is Burt’s Bees Cruelty-Free?
🐰 Burt’s Bees is a *cruelty-free brand. None of Burt’s Bees’ ingredients or products are tested on animals. Burt’s Bees has met all the criteria in our Cruelty-Free Checklist and is included in our Cruelty-Free Directory.
Does Burt’s Bees Test on Animals?
When asking, does Burt’s Bees test on animals? We must look beyond to ensure none of Burt’s Bees’ ingredients or suppliers test on animals. And they don’t sell in any conditions that may require animal testing by law.
In our research, we discovered the following:
- ✓ Burt’s Bees confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf.
- ✓ Burt’s Bees confirmed all their ingredient suppliers do not test on animals
- ✓ Burt’s Bees confirmed they do not allow or sell their products under conditions where animal testing is required by law
By meeting all of our Cruelty-Free Criteria, Burt’s Bees is a *cruelty-free brand by our standards.
*Burt’s Bees is owned by The Clorox Company, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.
The decision is yours whether you want to support or boycott cruelty-free brands owned by a parent company that is not cruelty-free. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer to this. Do what you’re comfortable with. I just thought it was important to disclose that The Clorox Company owns Burt’s Bees.
What is Burt’s Bees’ Animal Testing Policy?
Below is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Burt’s Bees’ website about its animal testing policy:
Animal Testing in China – 2023 Update!
With the recent changes to China’s animal testing laws, cosmetic companies can now export and sell some of their cosmetics in China without animal testing only if they meet ALL of the following preconditions first.
- ONLY sell ‘general’ cosmetics (like makeup, skincare, haircare, nail polish, and perfumes)
- must NOT sell any ‘special’ cosmetics like sunscreens, hair dye, hair perming, or other cosmetics claiming new efficacy
- must NOT sell products designed for infants or children
- must NOT sell products that contain a ‘New Cosmetic Ingredient’
- AND if post-market testing is required, then the company must have a policy in place where it will RECALL its products rather than allow its products to be tested on animals
Also, products must meet ONE of the following in order to avoid animal testing in China:
- manufactured in China, or the final assembly is in China
- if manufactured outside of China and then exported to China, companies must obtain the proper product safety certificates and documents
Burt’s Bees is part of the Leaping Bunny China Qualification Program and has confirmed that it only sells general cosmetics in China under the supervision of Leaping Bunny’s standards.
“Leaping Bunny certified companies wishing to qualify for the program will need to meet extensive criteria in order to embark on the process and will continue to have enhanced reporting to our team even once approved. Importantly, they will need to successfully complete both a Pre-Market Audit and a series of Post-Market Audits, conducted by Knudsen&CRC. Audit results, while confidential, are fully disclosed to Leaping Bunny administrators. Further, companies are required to sign an agreement promising to recall products rather than allow any animal testing, should the Chinese government require it for some reason. We are excited to announce that Burt’s Bees has successfully completed all of the requirements of the Leaping Bunny China Qualification Program with the launch of their lip balms into the domestic Chinese marketplace—without animal testing.“
Follow the highlighted lines in the graphic below to see how Burt’s Bees avoids animal tests while selling some of its cosmetics in China.
Is Burt’s Bees Certified Cruelty-Free?
Burt’s Bees is certified cruelty-free by Leaping Bunny and PETA.
Is Burt’s Bees Sold in China?
Yes. Burt’s Bees is sold in China under the supervision of the Leaping Bunny China Qualification Program.
Cruelty-Free Policies 2023
Just because a brand claims it is ‘Cruelty-Free,’ doesn’t always mean that’s the case.
That’s because there is no legal definition for the label ‘Cruelty-Free.’ It can mean different things to different people. But Cruelty-Free is generally used to imply no animal testing. More specifically, the ingredients, formulation, or finished product are not tested on animals at any stage of product development.
At ethical elephant, we always assess a company’s cruelty-free policy using our Cruelty-Free Checklist. This ensures no animal testing was performed by the brand itself, its suppliers, or any third parties.
How We Assess Cruelty-Free Policies
Since 2015, the start of my blog, I’ve been emailing companies asking about their animal testing policies and cruelty-free commitments.
And based on the responses I receive from companies, I’ll research to find any supporting facts needed before concluding whether the brand should be classified as “Cruelty-Free,” “Animal-Tested,” or “Grey Area – Unclear Policies.”
☕️ Every week, I continue to reach out to new brands while trying my best to keep current brands updated. If you found any of my posts or guides helpful, consider Buying Me A Coffee! I would greatly appreciate it! ❤️
What about Vegan?
Just because something is called Cruelty-Free, doesn’t always mean it’s Vegan. And vice versa.
Cruelty-Free only refers to no animal testing, while Vegan means formulated without animal products.
Some brands are Cruelty-Free, but not Vegan.
And some are Vegan, but not Cruelty-Free.
Another important distinction to know is, Vegan in cosmetics can refer to an entire brand is 100% Vegan or a specific product is Vegan.
Is Burt’s Bees Vegan?
⭐️ Burt’s Bees is NOT a vegan brand. Burt’s Bees does not claim to offer any vegan-friendly products at this time.
The following is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Burt’s Bees’ website about its vegan claims:
Although Burt’s Bees products are NOT tested on animals, Burt’s Bees does not have any vegan products therefore, Burt’s Bees is NOT included in our Cruelty-Free and Vegan Brand Directory.
Vegan Policies
Similar to ‘Cruelty-Free,’ there is no standard or legal definition for the label ‘Vegan.’ But Vegan is generally used to mean formulated without animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products.
Some common animal products in cosmetics include carmine, lanolin, snail mucus, beeswax, honey, pearl or silk-derived ingredients, animal-based glycerin, keratin, and squalene.
There are plant-based and synthetic alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. But unless a brand explicitly labels its ingredients or product as Vegan, it’s often difficult to know with certainty whether a product is vegan just by reading the ingredient list.
So it’s best to ask the company and manufacturers to ensure the ingredients they chose were from non-animal sources.
Vegan Alternatives to Burt’s Bees:
I hope this article helped you to understand Burt’s Bee’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!
If you found this helpful, consider Buying Me a Coffee. So that I can continue to keep this site running and updated.
0 thoughts on “Burt’s Bees (Clorox)”
Bullshit! It’s clearly not vegan, as it uses bees wax, carmine and other things
If you read the article and the statement from burts bees they clearly mention they use animal products. However they’ve pointed out if there is a product without animal products inside that they sell they won’t call it vegan due to the possibility of cross contamination via shared production lines