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You can find Seventh Generation cruelty-free products at Walmart, Target, CVS, Well.ca, and on Amazon.
Seventh Generation is *Cruelty-Free
Seventh Generation has confirmed they do not test their products or ingredients on animals or ask others to test on their behalf. Their suppliers also do not test on animals, nor do they allow their products to be tested on animals when required by law. And finally, their products are not sold in stores in mainland China or any other country that may require animal testing.
By our standards, we would consider Seventh Generation to be *Cruelty-Free.
*Seventh Generation is owned by Unilever, a corporation that is NOT cruelty-free because they allow some of their other brands to test on animals.
It’s your choice 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. I encourage you to do what you’re comfortable with, but I think it’s important to disclose that Unilever owns Seventh Generation.
Below is a screenshot of Seventh Generation’s official animal testing statement:
What About China’s Animal Testing Laws?
Seventh Generation has confirmed they do not sell their products in retail stores in mainland China; therefore, they are not required to test on animals.
As of May 1, 2021, some imported ordinary cosmetics can be exempt from animal testing under certain conditions. However, for the most part, animal testing is still legally required for most imported cosmetics in 2022.
Cruelty-Free Policies
Note that 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, and by any third parties.
Also, note that Cruelty-Free and Vegan don’t always mean the same thing.
Seventh Generation is 100% Vegan
Seventh Generation has confirmed all of its products don’t contain any animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
However, it should be noted that Seventh Generation does not claim their products are “Vegan Certified,” in which their plant-based ingredients may have been grown with animal-based fertilizers.
The following is a screenshot of what’s currently stated on Seventh Generation’s official website about its vegan products:
I appreciate Seventh Generation’s commitment to being completely transparent with their customers by letting us know about their use of animal manure.
I also do believe this is a personal decision on whether you would consider plant-based foods and ingredients grown with animal manure to be “vegan” or not.
But I try my best to promote and inspire an ethical but practical lifestyle here on my blog. And for me, if I were to trace the source of all of my food and beauty products to see if they were grown with animal-based fertilizer or not would be unsustainable for me to continue being vegan.
Therefore, I feel comfortable supporting and buying from Seventh Generation since they don’t use animal-derived ingredients or by-products.
If you personally don’t feel comfortable supporting Seventh Generation because they use animal manure to grow their plant-based ingredients, then that’s cool too. I created this post to share the information provided to me; what you do with that information is totally up to you!
Where are Seventh Generation’s products made?
“We manufacture our products at co-packers who use our unique formulas, and meet our stringent quality control specifications. These facilities are primarily located in North America to minimize our carbon footprint caused by transportation. Some of our products are made in Canada, Mexico and in Europe.”
I hope this article helped you to understand Seventh Generation’s cruelty-free and vegan status and by choosing cruelty-free together, we can help end animal testing for cosmetics once and for all!
