Taiwan FDA Bans Dental Tests on Animals

Taiwan: The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has announced that animal testing will no longer be allowed for companies seeking to make human dental health claims for their food and beverage products. 

This move comes after PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) received over 52,000 emails from supporters urging the TFDA to end animal testing, according to the animal rights organisation.

Revised Regulation

The revised regulation requires companies to conduct “safe and effective human tests only”. The proposed change, if adopted, will end the tests on animals that according to PETA involve feeding rats sugar water and bacteria that cause dental decay, swabbing their mouths, feeding them the test products, killing them, and dissecting their mouths.

PETA has been pushing for this change and has already persuaded dozens of food and beverage companies in Taiwan to end or never start animal testing. The animal rights organization is now urging major food and beverage companies in Taiwan to end all animal experimentation in their attempts to establish other human-health claims.

Sustained PETA Pressure

The TFDA’s latest revision follows a series of announcements made by the agency after years of sustained pressure from PETA. According oa press release from PETA, the agency now prioritizes internationally recognized, non-animal tests for assessing food safety.

According to PETA, 90% of basic research, the majority of which involves animal tests, fails to lead to treatments for humans. Furthermore, more than 95% of new drugs that test safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials.

The 60-day window for commenting on the proposed rule change ends on October 17, and PETA is urging people to take action and encourage TDFA officials to adopt the new regulation.