INGREDIENT CERTIFICATION
Vegan certification: what, why and how
Becky Watson – The Vegan Society
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The market for vegan products continues to grow, especially in the cosmetics, beauty and personal care industries. But did you know that there are often ‘hidden’ ingredients and processes that prevent your product from stating its vegan claim? Read on to find out how the Vegan Trademark can help! With the ever-increasing demand for vegan
products, navigating this space can seem especially daunting. Currently, there are no universal legal definitions of the words ‘animal’ or ‘vegan’ and therefore any meaning applied is entirely dependent on the opinion of the producer of the material. While most would agree the end-product is
not to contain any materials derived from animal sources and derivatives, it is important to note that the whole manufacture and development of the product overall may not have been considered; this can include processing aids, auxiliaries, any additional raw materials that have been used to produce the components/ ingredients and how the materials have been sourced. This can be a stumbling block for some
manufacturers - even the humblest of ingredients, such as an apple, could be controversial depending on the wax used. This is why external third-party certification,
such as the Vegan Trademark is so important. The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark established strict criteria to ensure that products registered by us are vegan - from development through to the final product's manufacture. The Vegan Society was founded in 1944, coining the term
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‘vegan’ and setting its definition. Our Vegan Trademark is the gold standard
in vegan third-party certification. Established in 1990 with the aim of making vegan products more accessible, the Vegan Trademark is the original and most robust vegan certification scheme in the world. With more than 70,000 products carrying the Vegan Trademark across the globe, vegan products are easily recognisable, universally trusted and translatable worldwide. We register a wide variety of products - from
toiletries and cosmetics to health supplements and suncare. We even register raw materials - this makes it even easier for your B2B customers to know that your components can safely be used in their vegan products. Before we delve into common
misconceptions regarding what is considered as vegan and our certification process, it is important to outline the Trademark standards.
Vegan Society standards Products must exclude any substances derived from animals, directly or indirectly. The development and/or manufacture of the product, and its ingredients, must not involve or have involved, testing of any sort on animals conducted at the initiative of the company or on its behalf, or by parties over whom the company has effective control. Businesses must implement practical
measures to prevent contamination from non-vegan substances during production and handling.
Our definition of ‘animal’ The Vegan Society understands the word ‘animal’ to refer to the entire animal kingdom. That is all vertebrates and all multicellular invertebrates. ‘Animal’ can refer to a species or an individual and is used as a noun or an adjective, as required. Unless otherwise stated, it usually means non- human animals.
This is the definition we will use for this article. With the above in mind, we will first explore common misconceptions relating to vegan products and ingredients.
Animal derived by-products There are a lot of ingredients that many consider as ‘vegan’ but are not - such as eggs, milk, honey and beeswax. Although the animal has not necessarily been killed to produce these raw materials, they nonetheless come from an animal source.
This is where veganism differs from
vegetarianism - which allows for the consumption of eggs and dairy - veganism is a philosophy that works to exclude all forms of animal ingredients in their entirety, including any animal-derived by-products and/or derivatives.
Labelling A common misconception is that words such as ‘plant-based’, ‘natural’, ‘synthetic’ and ‘cruelty-free’ mean that a product/ingredient is considered vegan. However, this is not the case and usage of these terms may lead to confusion about the source of the product’s ingredients and production.
March 2025 PERSONAL CARE
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