Understanding Leaping Bunny Certification and What it Means to Be Cruelty-Free
Doing the right thing should be a no-brainer. Give more than you take; use sustainable resources, like solar power; decrease your carbon footprint; and respect all living things. From our inception, we’ve adopted practices, not because they were trendy, but because they aligned with our overall philosophy.
Being a cruelty-free brand is part of that commitment. We source the finest ingredients possible and never test our products on animals. In fact, we have dual certification, making us as cruelty-free as possible. Although great strides have been made to educate consumers on policies and practices involving animals, many of those changes have been in place a mere 20 years.
The Birth of Leaping Bunny
If you’re looking for cruelty-free products, then you’re probably familiar with the various symbols that grace the packaging of items made by companies that take extra precautions with their formulations. Most consumers recognize the Leaping Bunny logo, but it didn’t always exist.
Before 1996, phrases like “animal friendly” and “cruelty-free” were adopted by manufacturers without a standardized definition of what those words meant. Recognizing the need for consistency – and a way to ensure consumers wouldn’t be misled – eight animal protection groups joined forces and created the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). These entities work together to protect animals by:
- Ending experimentation practices;
- Eliminating cosmetic testing on animals;
- Increasing awareness about animal cruelty and abuse; and
- Lobbying for change at the national level.
Consumers Increasingly Prefer Cruelty-Free Products
When setting out to market a product, companies make choices based on their values and those that matter to their customers. According to a Statista poll published in November 2020, “32 percent of consumers reported that they would very likely stop purchasing from their favorite brand if they tested on animals.” With more than a third of respondents embracing the cruelty-free approach, even companies with strict animal friendly policies seek Leaping Bunny certification to show their commitment to their customers.
The Little Logo That Means A Lot
While having a recognizable brand logo will tell consumers who you are, the Leaping Bunny logo tells them that a company has committed to a lengthy set of standards regarding ingredient sourcing and testing as well as taking a stand against new animal testing. The logo takes the guesswork out of purchasing and eliminates ambiguity about a company’s stance because all Leaping Bunny-Certified companies must follow the same rules and recommit to their promise yearly. And for the sake of transparency, companies that recommit are listed on the Leaping Bunny website, which consumers can use to vet their favorite brands to see if something has changed during the course of the year.
All Bunnies Are Not Alike
As much as it pains us to point this out, there are companies that prey on less informed consumers by making unsupported claims. To date, the FDA has “no legal definitions” for phrasing such as “‘Cruelty-Free’ or ‘Not Tested on Animals.’” To make matters worse, truly unscrupulous manufacturers create their own bunny logos, which often fool consumers since there are a variety of third-party organizations that certify products and use different images. Take a look at your Epicuren products, and you’ll see either the Leaping Bunny logo from the accredited by PETA. These logos serve as a visual reminder that we never test our products on animals nor do we test individual ingredients on them.