Tell Mars Inc., to stop testing on animals!

(Please see all Latest News regarding this issue at the bottom of this message;
you can just click the VIEW WHOLE PETITION button that you see to the left of this message to make this text box open up fully.

There is new news posted here as of June 12, 2008; see below.)
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"...........the list of companies that have stopped animal experiments is growing, and we must keep it growing!

Confectionery maker Mars, Inc., however, is not yet on that list!

Mars officials know that there are superior research techniques that don't involve animals, yet the company continues to fund experiments on animals because, after all, that's the traditional way these tests are done. I know you will agree that is no justification for allowing such wanton cruelty.

......your input is vital if we are to compel Mars to stop funding for all animal tests.

Please tell all your friends and family members about Mars' funding of cruel tests on animals. Explain to them that one of the best ways to show Mars your disgust ---- and get them to change ---- is to let Mars know that you will never buy its products as long as the experiments on animals continue."

---quote from a PETA email by Ingrid E. Newkirk



Tell Mars Inc., to stop testing on animals!




Got a sweet tooth? Think twice before picking up a Mars candy bar! You should know that candymaker Mars, Inc., creator of M&M's, Snickers, Twix, Dove, Three Musketeers, Starburst, Skittles, and other candies, funds deadly animal tests, even though there are more reliable human studies and not one of the tests is required by law.

Mars recently funded a deadly experiment on rats to determine the effects of chocolate ingredients on their blood vessels. Experimenters force-fed the rats by shoving plastic tubes down their throats and then cut open the rats' legs to expose an artery, which was clamped shut to block blood flow. After the experiment, the animals were killed. Mars has also funded cruel experiments in which mice were fed a candy ingredient and forced to swim in a pool of a water mixed with white paint. The mice had to find a hidden platform to avoid drowning, only to be killed and dissected later on. In yet another experiment supported by Mars, rats were fed cocoa and anesthetized with carbon dioxide so that their blood could be collected by injecting a needle directly into their hearts, which can lead to internal bleeding and other deadly complications.

Mars' top competitor, Hershey's, has pledged not to fund or conduct experiments on animals.

Mars is also apparently lying to the public,  claiming that it doesn't fund cruel animal tests, even though PETA has uncovered a history of such experiments. 
If you call their Consumer Care hotline in the USA at 1-800-627-7852 (Mars' consumer hotline calls in the US are handled by the outsourced company TeleRX Marketing Inc. in Pennsylvania), they have a recorded message that says Mars does not conduct or fund any animal experimentation.  If you speak to a Mars representative, they will read you the same statement.  This has already been exposed in the media as a falsehood, with the University of California confirming in a statement to Reuters (see link below) that they are currently conducting animal research for Mars Inc.  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has been asked to investigate Mars' false claims; that Mars is apparently deceiving consumers with their policy statement saying they do not conduct or fund animal experimentation, when it is clear from news media and published articles in scientific journals that they do.

Tell Mars why you are opposed to animal testing and if you no longer wish to purchase their products in light of this news.

Web references to this issue can be found at:

http://marscandykills.com/

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1433837420071214 ( [actress] Pamela Anderson slams Mars over animal cruelty )

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0731748320071208 ( PETA boycotting Mars candy co. over animal cruelty )


http://www.confectionerynews.com/news/ng.asp?n=82017-mars-peta-animal-testing ( Mars angers activists over animal testing )



http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=77026-mars-epicatechin-memory


Other references from scientific journals that confirm that Mars Inc. indeed funds animal experimentation can be found at:

*Elizabeth Paisley et al., "Temporal-Regulation of Serum Lipids and Stearoyl CoA Desaturase and Lipoprotein Lipase mRNA in BALB/cHnn Mice," Journal of Nutrition (1996) 126.11: 2730-2737.

*Timothy Orozco et al., "Chronic consumption of a flavanol- and procyanindin-rich diet is associated with reduced levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in rat testes," Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry (2003) 14: 104-10.

*Francene Steinberg et al., "Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Improves Growth and Reproductive Performance in Mice Fed Chemically Defined Diets," Experimental Biology and Medicine (2003) 228: 160-66.

*Henriette van Praag I et al., "Plant-derived flavanol (-)epicatechin enhances angiogenesis and retention of spatial memory in mice." Journal of Neuroscience (2007) 27: 5869-5878.

More info on Mars-funded experiments:

Not one of Mars' experiments on animals is required by law. Even so, Mars has paid experimenters to kill untold numbers of animals in tests:

Mars recently funded an experiment on rats at the University of California, San Francisco, to determine the effect of chocolate ingredients on the animals' blood vessels, even though the experimenter admitted that studies have already been done using humans. Experimenters force-fed the rats by shoving plastic tubes down their throats and then cut open the rats' legs to expose an artery, which was clamped shut to block blood flow. After the experiment, the animals were killed.

Mars funded a deadly experiment on mice that was published in a 2007 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience in which mice were fed flavanols (phytochemicals that are found in chocolate) and forced to swim in a pool of water mixed with white paint to hide a submerged platform, which the mice had to find in order to avoid drowning, only to be killed and dissected later on.

In one experiment supported by Mars and conducted by the current Mars, Inc., endowed chair in developmental nutrition at the University of California, Davis, rats were fed cocoa and anesthesized with carbon dioxide so that blood could be collected by a needle injected directly into the heart--- a procedure criticized by U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Dr. William T. Golde, who notes: "This is not a simple method....... Missing the heart or passing the needle completely through the heart could lead to undetected internal bleeding or other complications."

Mars supported a cruel experiment to learn how a chocolate ingredient called PQQ affects metabolism by cramming baby mice into 200-milliliter Plexiglas metabolic chambers--around half the size of a 12-ounce soda can-- and then submerging the chamber for nearly five hours in a chilled water bath, inducing labored breathing in the distressed mice. Experimenters then shoved tubes down the mice's throats every day for 10 days to force-feed them the PQQ, after which they were killed and cut up for analysis.

Mars funded a test in which experimenters forced rabbits to eat a high-cholesterol diet with varying amounts of cocoa, then cut out and examined tissue from the rabbits' primary blood vessel to the heart to determine the effect of cocoa on rabbits' muscle tissue.

Mars supported a test in which experimenters attached plastic tubes to arteries in guinea pigs' necks and injected cocoa ingredients into their jugular veins to examine the effect of cocoa ingredients on their blood pressure. 

Note:  Most of the information here is from PETA's site on this issue at http://marscandykills.com/  I have made this petition in order to help publicize this important issue and to spread public awareness, as well as to share with Mars Inc. what consumers have to say, since they obviously do not seem to be listening too closely to consumer concerns since this issue hit the media some months ago.  Mars Inc.'s mission statement/company philosophy, which is called "The Five Principles", speaks of such things as high standards of "honesty and integrity", the "company's ethical responsibility", and the "bond of trust, respect, and honesty that we share with .....  our consumers."   They also say in the same mission statement, and verbally repeat it often in media interviews, that "the consumer is our boss."  Let's hope that all of their corporate values will shine through when dealing with this issue of animal testing that has obviously upset so many consumers.
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LATEST NEWS :
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June 12, 2008:

The Waste of Mars Inc.'s Animal Research:


Mars Inc. has been conducting research using cruel animal tests as well as clinical trials involving humans to make health claims on chocolate. (such as that chocolate will lower cholesterol, etc.)

This article, "Swallowing the Hype", talks about the waste of those studies, mentioning Mars' health claims, and saying that to get the health benefits that Mars is touting (based on their animal tests and human trials), one might have to eat enough chocolate to go into a diabetic coma!

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1427899/swallowing_the_hype/




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April 23, 2008:


Marin County's 'M&M' Team Wins PETA Award for Boycotting M&M's

Compassionate Realtors Suspend Using the Candy for Open Houses After Learning That Mars Funds Deadly Animal Tests

see press release at:
http://www.peta.org/MC/NewsItem.asp?id=11318




April 4, 2008:

Mars has been continually making frequent tiny changes to their animal testing policy statement, but besides their little tricks with words, they are apparently still involved in commissioning animal tests to help develop new biomedical chocolate/cocoa products that they believe will "alleviate or reverse existing medical conditions" .  They do appear to conduct some studies using humans, but any truly compassionate company would switch ALL of their studies over to human clinical trials.



January 22, 2008:

This is apparently a company working very hard to obfuscate this issue.  I posted here yesterday about the fact that they have changed the online version of their animal research policy, which appeared to be an honest step in the right direction (See below, January 21, 2008 entry).  But then I noticed that they have changed the list of their research studies on their Symbioscience website.  If you looked at the page some days ago, they had on the list of research studies one study regarding memory in mice, along with a reference to an article about it. On the same page as it exists now, they have deleted the 2 references, the one about the study itself and the other referring to the article about it. 

This appears as if the company is trying to remove as many references as possible to their animal tests.  What a sad, sad situation, and one that I am sure they did not expect anyone to notice as well.

An article about this same study for which they have deleted the references from their site, can be seen at:
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=77026-mars-epicatechin-memory

The 2 links they have now gotten rid of from their company's site went to these pages:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17537957&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

AND

http://foodconsumer.org/7777/8888/F_ood_C_hemicals_37/053006322007_Natural_compound_and_exercise_boost_memory_in_mice.shtml



January 21, 2008:

Apparently, after all of the public pressure and concern, Mars is tentatively "responding".  As of today, they have retooled/updated their policy statement about animal research on their website.

In this statement, even though it appears they are trying to disseminate more honest information to the public, they still try to push the distinction between Mars Inc. and Mars Symbioscience.  Regardless, their company still conducts animal research, no matter under which branch of the company it is conducted.  Even worse, now they add the fact that their company Mars Fishcare also does animal research using "small fish and aquatic species".

They can be applauded for at least trying to be more transparent about this issue, but their stance remains questionable until this issue is further written about in the media, etc.  A company's policy statement is a public relations stance, and until they are even more transparent about the "research" they conduct, whether it is done by the parent company Mars Inc. or by their two "lesser known businesses" as they call them, Symbioscience and Mars Fishcare, this statement alone does not say very much.

As for this petition, nothing changes at the moment.  Please sign the petition, comment on it to share your feelings about animal testing, and forward it to your friends and loved ones, and feel free to mention the link on other sites, so people become more aware of this issue.
 As they say in their policy statement on their site, Mars Inc.'s 2 "lesser known businesses", Symbioscience and Mars Fishcare do indeed conduct animal research.

We are still waiting to hear what the Federal Trade Commission has to say regarding their possible investigation into Mars' dissemination of their animal research policies to consumers, and if they constitute "deceptive advertising".

January 20, 2008:

Apparently, reaction to Mars' animal testing is not the only thing that consumers are almost "choking" on:

See TV news story from Texas,  "Kid Finds Some Sort of Plastic In Bag Of Skittles":

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7744056&nav=1TjD


January 18, 2008:

Photos from PETA's Mars protest (January 17, 2008) in Washington DC, USA:
 
CAPTION:
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) members, wearing M&M-colored body paint, protest against Mars' cruel animal tests, in Washington January 17, 2008.   PETA members asked the public to boycott Mars' products because of their conducting and funding of animal experiments for its candy products.
 
4 pics:
 
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/lifestyle/2008-01/18/content_6403774.htm
 
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/lifestyle/2008-01/18/content_6403774_2.htm
 
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/lifestyle/2008-01/18/content_6403774_3.htm
 
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/lifestyle/2008-01/18/content_6403774_4.htm
 
 
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January 16, 2008:

New article on this issue at
http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/blog.asp?pid=1207


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LATEST NEWS (posted January 15, 2008):

Dunkin' Donuts has announced a partnership with Mars--- Dunkin' Donuts stores will now be selling 2 items featuring Mars' chocolate products (one is a hot chocolate and the other is a new donut flavor).  See the news about this at:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080114/nym076.html?.v=100

and

http://sev.prnewswire.com/food-beverages/20080114/NYM07614012008-1.html


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Other food, beverage, and snack companies do not see the need to test anything using animals, whether to make health claims or not,  or to develop new "healthy" products.

Rival chocolate company Hershey's has already pledged to never conduct or commission animal research, and so has juice company Welch's.

Read about Hershey's pledge to never do any animal testing:

http://www.peta.org/MC/NewsItem.asp?id=10736

and Welch's says on their website (in reference to their company giving up animal testing in 2006):
"With the broad range of research alternatives available today, we at Welch's have determined that we can remain committed to scientific research regarding the vital connection between diet and health without the further funding of animal research."

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Also, to help dispute Mars' claim, mentioned in some news articles in quotes from the company's various spokespersons, about some animal testing being required by law for their products, see the following letter from correspondence between PETA and Welch's in 2006:

http://www.caringconsumer.com/pdfs/welch's%20contact.pdf


Furthermore, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states: "[T]he Agency is not aware of any circumstances that would result in the FDA requiring a food or beverage company to conduct laboratory experiments on animals........"
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LATEST NEWS (posted January 14, 2008):

Controversies with Mars Inc. and animal testing are obviously nothing new!  Check out some very interesting links:

http://www.vegaplanet.org/?p=170

http://www.speakcampaigns.org/articles/20060821MARS.php

http://www.speakcampaigns.org/news/20060904marsdemo.php

http://www.ethiscore.org/company.aspx?id=18988



LATEST NEWS (posted January 8, 2008):

You can see a video of a news report featuring actress Pamela Anderson writing to Mars Inc. to tell them that she does not support their animal testing, and is participating in the boycott.  Pamela Anderson worked with Mars Inc. in 2006 to promote a product launch for them in Australia; she is now horrified to know that she worked for a company that supports cruel animal testing.

See video at:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/984587/pams_candygram/


Pamela Anderson's letter to the president of Mars Inc. can be seen in its entirety at:
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Pamela.pdf




LATEST NEWS (posted January 7, 2008):
 One petition signer wrote:  "Although the last time I sent them letters, I got a lovely form letter in return, pointing me to their wonderful website telling all about how Mars doesn't do any animal testing at all, Symbioscience does.
At any rate, it's a way to kill about a minute, and since I have a 5 and a 6 year old, I have a certain fondness for the whole, "I didn't do it, my imaginary friend did" defense. "

Mars Inc. is apparently under the impression that they can just tell consumers that they do not conduct or support any vivisection, that their "separate business unit Symbioscience" does so.  Yet Symbioscience is part of Mars Inc.  Do they really believe that consumers can be so easily duped?  This is the 21st century folks, where consumers are too savvy to be fed public relations style syntactical backflips.  The Federal Trade Commission will get to the bottom of this when they investigate; let's see if they see any real distinction between Mars Inc. and their "separate business unit"; in the eyes of the average consumer, which is who the FTC tries to protect from "deceptive advertising", is there indeed any difference if you try to shift animal testing to a subunit of your larger company?  In the end, it is still part of Mars. Inc.; look at the website of Symbioscience at and see if you think the companies are all that "separate".  They also have a nicely arranged page under the heading NEWS there, where they have a handy list of all of their "Research Studies", with links showing some of the studies they have conducted using vivisection/animals.  (Note added as of January 22nd, 2008:  They have since removed most references to studies using animals from that webpage; see information about this in Latest News for Jan. 22, 2008 above)

See the FAQ on the same site, saying how Symbioscience relates to the rest of the company........


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Regarding another similar case, unrelated to Mars, that the US Federal Trade Commission investigated:

"[W]e appreciate that for many consumers, a company's policies toward animal research and welfare may well affect their choice of or conduct regarding a product. ....... Therefore, a company's public dissemination of its research policy may, depending on the circumstances, be 'advertising' subject to the substantiation requirements of Section 5 of the FTC Act."

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Ironically and sadly enough, The Mars Foundation, the charitable/philanthropic arm of the Mars family/corporation, lists as one of their funding areas for which they award monetary grants "animal protection" /  "the protection and preservation of animals and wildlife"..........

http://www.naccho.org/topics/fundingguide/documents/jan_2007/Virginia.pdf

http://atfiles.org/files/pdf/bicentennialsourcebook.pdf



LATEST NEWS (posted January 6, 2008):   The Hershey Company has signed a statement pledging that the company will not test its products or ingredients on animals.  

"Mars would be wise to follow Hershey's compassionate lead," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "Hershey's humane program of non-animal research is an excellent model that the rest of the confectionary industry should emulate." 
 
See info about Hershey's pledge at:  http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=10736
 
 
 
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PETITION TEXT:


Please Stop Funding Unnecessary and Cruel Experiments on Animals!



I was shocked to learn that Mars is still funding deadly animal tests even though the tests are not required by law, more reliable human studies could be used instead, and your chief competitor, Hershey's, refuses to test its products on animals. Please follow Hershey's lead by promising not to fund or conduct experiments on animals.

Unless I hear that Mars has ended all support for animal tests, I will be buying my candy from a more compassionate company and will encourage my friends and family to do the same.