Four Major Food Companies End Deadly Animal Tests After PETA Appeal

Owners of Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, and Instant Ramen Brands Maruchan and Top Ramen Follow Global Trend, Embrace Non-Animal Research

For Immediate Release:
July 11, 2018

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

After ongoing discussions with PETA since May 2018, the following four global food and beverage companies have recently enacted new policies banning all experiments on animals unless required by law:

• Nissin Foods Holdings—multibillion-dollar owner of Top Ramen, the largest instant-ramen brand with vegetarian flavors in national distribution in the U.S.
• Satake Corporation—major food-processing company and owner of Magic Rice and Magic Pasta brands
• Suntory Holdings—multibillion-dollar owner of the Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark brands and joint venture partner with PepsiCo
• Toyo Suisan Kaisha—multibillion-dollar owner of Maruchan, the largest North American producer of instant ramen noodles

“These major companies did the right thing in ditching cruel and wasteful animal experiments,” says PETA Vice President Shalin Gala. “PETA is calling on other industry leaders to join this growing trend and switch to modern, non-animal research methods that provide human-relevant results and don’t cause animals suffering.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—notes that tests previously conducted or funded by the four companies included force-feeding mice and rats ingredients ranging from yeast that causes candida to instant ramen noodles, starving them for up to 18 hours, restraining them in tubes, forcing them to run on treadmills and jump from hot plates, and electrocuting them, after which the animals’ necks were broken and their bodies were dissected.

Nissin Foods Holdings, Satake Corporation, Suntory Holdings, and Toyo Suisan Kaisha join a long list of companies—including Barilla, The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, House Foods, ITO EN, Kikkoman, Lipton, Ocean Spray, PepsiCo, POM Wonderful LLC, Riken Vitamin, T. Hasegawa Co., Welch’s, and Yakult Honsha—that have ended animal tests after talks with PETA.

PETA’s correspondence with the four companies is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA’s blog or PETA.org.