‘Are your supplements cruelty-free?’ is sometimes a question that brand owners ask us, and it's worth answering properly because the regulatory and commercial position isn't quite as straightforward as it first appears. This article covers what the term actually means under UK rules, what you can and can't claim without certification, the Nutribl position, and the two certification routes worth considering if cruelty-free is core to your brand story.
What does ‘cruelty-free’ actually mean in the UK?
There's no single legal definition. It's a marketing term, and its meaning depends on who's claiming it and what they can substantiate.
The Advertising Standards Authority applies the CAP Code, which requires any claim to be evidence-based. A general ‘cruelty-free’ claim on packaging without a recognised certification behind it is vulnerable to challenge - particularly if a competitor or consumer group decides to push back. The risk isn't theoretical; it's how most unsubstantiated ethical claims get tested.
The usual way brands substantiate the claim is through a third-party certification scheme that sets a fixed cut-off date for animal testing, audits the supply chain back to that date, and monitors ongoing supplier compliance. Without one of those behind you, ‘cruelty-free’ is a claim you'd need to defend from your own records - and most brands' records aren't built for that.
Why food supplements sit in a different position to cosmetics
Most of the cruelty-free conversation has historically centred on cosmetics, because cosmetic ingredient testing on animals is what the major certification schemes were set up to address. Supplements are different in two important ways.
First, finished food supplements are not and have never been tested on animals as part of the UK market authorisation process. Supplement safety is established through historical dietary use, in vitro studies, and human clinical data. Finished-product animal testing simply isn't part of the regulatory picture.
Second, ingredient-level testing histories for supplement ingredients are varied. Some botanical and nutrient ingredients have a long history of dietary use and no testing requirement at all. Others, particularly novel foods or ingredients also used in pharmaceuticals or cosmetics, may have historical animal data in their regulatory files - sometimes from decades ago, sometimes required under chemical safety frameworks like REACH that no individual brand controls.
This is the reason a supplement brand can reasonably say ‘we don't test on animals’ about its finished products, but can't credibly say ‘every ingredient in our supply chain is cruelty-free’ without going through a formal certification audit.
The Nutribl position
We don't hold formal cruelty-free certification, so we don't make cruelty-free claims on our labels or in our marketing, and we don't recommend that our private label clients do so either based solely on their association with us.
What we can confirm:
- Finished products are not tested on animals. No Nutribl or Nutribl-manufactured product undergoes finished-product animal testing. UK law has banned animal testing of finished cosmetics since 2013, and supplements have never required it.
- Most products are vegan or vegetarian. The majority of our range uses plant-based capsule shells, no animal-derived excipients, and vegan-suitable ingredients. Suitability is declared on each product label where it applies.
- The supply chain is independently audited. Troo Health Care Ltd (Nutribl) is certified to BRCGS at AA standard - the highest grade in the scheme. BRC is a supply chain integrity standard, not an animal welfare standard, but it means our suppliers are vetted, our products are traceable, and our operations are externally audited every year.
If cruelty-free is central to your brand
If your brand positioning depends on a cruelty-free claim, you'll need third-party certification. There are two routes most relevant to UK supplements.
The Vegan Society Vegan Trademark
UK-based, running since 1990, and registered on over 17,000 food and drink products globally. The Vegan Trademark standard requires that neither the product nor its ingredients have been tested on animals at the initiative of the company or on its behalf. For a supplement brand whose range is vegan-positioned anyway, this single scheme covers both the vegan and the cruelty-free claim in one certification, and it's the most commonly recognised mark on UK supplement packaging.
Cruelty Free International Leaping Bunny. UK-headquartered (the logo you may have seen associated with US brands is administered by a partner organisation, CCIC, in the US and Canada - same standard, same logo, different licensing body). Leaping Bunny is more common on cosmetics and household products than supplements, but it is available for supplements and is the internationally recognised gold standard for cruelty-free certification. Worth considering if your brand reaches into beauty-adjacent or multi-category territory.
What certification actually involves
Both schemes work on a similar model. You set a fixed cut-off date after which no animal testing can have occurred at any level - finished product, formulation, or ingredient. You collect signed declarations from every supplier and manufacturer in your chain confirming compliance with that cut-off. You implement an ongoing supplier monitoring system. You submit to an independent audit, typically in the first year and then periodically thereafter.
The process usually takes a few months, with most of that time spent collecting supplier declarations. The certifying bodies are generally supportive - they want brands to succeed - but the evidential burden is real, and it's mostly on you to chase suppliers for paperwork.
For a Nutribl private label client, unfortunately this is not something we can support. The administration of such projects is huge and, in a category like supplements, not hugely relevant. We also can't guarantee every upstream supplier will comply.
Practical guidance for brand owners
If you're not sure whether to pursue certification, the question to ask is whether your brand's commercial position actually depends on the cruelty-free claim. Three rough categories:
- If your brand positioning leads with cruelty-free or ethical credentials - pursue certification. The Vegan Society Trademark is usually the most practical starting point for a supplement brand.
- If cruelty-free is part of your brand's values but not the lead message - you can legitimately use narrower factual statements like ‘not tested on animals’ about the finished product, or ‘suitable for vegans’ where the formula supports it. These are defensible without certification.
- If you don't intend to lead on this at all - there's no requirement to say anything. A supplement label doesn't need a cruelty-free statement, and silence is often better than a weak claim.
Whatever you decide, we will support in any way we can.