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Hair Food is NOT Cruelty-Free!
Hair Food allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law.
In addition, Hair Food is owned by P&G, a parent company that is NOT cruelty-free.
Hair Food’s Animal Testing Policy
Hair Food claims to be “Cruelty-Free” however while researching to learn more about Hair Food’s cruelty-free status, I couldn’t find the brand’s official animal testing policy anywhere on its website.
So I reached out to Hair Food to ask for more information about their animal testing policy. More specifically, I wanted to know if they commission or allow others to test their products/ingredients on animals, including when selling in countries that require animal testing (like in mainland China).
And Hair Food responded by saying:
“Thank you for contacting Hair Food. I hope you’re having a good day! It will be my pleasure to provide you with more information regarding your question.
We do not test our products on animals anywhere in the world unless required by law and we are working hard to make animal testing of all consumer products obsolete.
We are a proud supporter of #BeCrueltyFree. We have invested more than $470 million in developing non-animal testing methods and have advocated for their approval by policy makers around the world. Today, we use more than 50 non-animal alternatives, half of which were invented or co-invented by P&G. We will continue working with partners like the Humane Society International and the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to promote the development of new alternatives and advocate for their public use and adoption to eliminate animal testing.”
Based on their response, we now know that P&G owns Hair Food. And Hair Food has the same animal testing policy as P&G where both state they make an exception to allow their products to be tested on animals if specifically required by law.
Truly cruelty-free brands will never allow their products or ingredients to be tested on animals. Cruelty-free companies have a policy where if the law requires them to test on animals then they will refuse to sell their products under those conditions.
For example, imported cosmetics sold in stores in mainland China are required by Chinese laws to be tested on animals upon registration. Therefore, truly cruelty-free brands have chosen not to sell in China in order to remain committed to their no-animal testing policy.
Unfortunately, P&G and Hair Food state they will allow their products and ingredients to be tested on animals if the law requires it. For those reasons, Hair Food is NOT cruelty-free.
Cruelty-Free Policies
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 by any third parties, including when required by law.
See below for our complete cruelty-free checklist. Since Hair Food allows its products or ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law, we cannot classify the brand as being cruelty-free.
Is Hair Food Certified Cruelty-Free?
Hair Food is certified cruelty-free by PETA, but not Leaping Bunny.
PETA’s cruelty-free standards are not as strict as Leaping Bunny’s. For example, PETA does not require brands to be re-accredited once they’re approved and do not require brands to submit documents from their suppliers and manufacturers to ensure compliance with their cruelty-free standards.
Additionally, PETA allows some of its approved cruelty-free brands to sell in China where animal testing may be conducted on some cosmetics.
Hair Food gaining PETA’s cruelty-free certification may be enough for some cruelty-free consumers but not for others who don’t trust PETA’s standards over Leaping Bunny’s.
Is Hair Food Owned By A Non-Cruelty-Free Parent Company?
Yes. Hair Food is owned by P&G, a parent corporation that still engages in animal testing in 2022.
Some cruelty-free consumers may choose to purchase and support cruelty-free brands owned by animal-tested parent corporations as they hope it will convince the parent company to become cruelty-free.
But in this case, Hair Food is NOT cruelty-free and neither is its parent corporation, P&G.
Is Hair Food Cruelty-Free?
To sum up, Hair Food allows its products to be tested on animals when required by law. Therefore, we would NOT consider Hair Food to be a cruelty-free brand.
Currently, Hair Food is on our List of Brands to Avoid – Animal Tested.
Is Hair Food Vegan?
Hair Food claims to offer some “vegan” options that are free of animal-derived ingredients, but because Hair Food engages in animal testing, we wouldn’t classify anything sold or produced by Hair Food to be vegan.
In order for products to be considered vegan by ethical elephant’s standards, the products and their ingredients must not be tested on animals anywhere in the world. Also, they must not contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
Cruelty-Free Alternatives to Hair Food
Looking to switch to cruelty-free products? Here are some cruelty-free brands to check out:
or check out our Guide to Cruelty-Free & Vegan Hair Care Brands!
