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OREM, Utah (AP) -- Utah-based juice maker Tahitian Noni International will stop using animals for product testing.
The company sent a letter this week to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals outlining its new policy.
"Tahitian Noni International is dedicated to scientifically valid research alternatives to animal testing and will not fund animal research . . . unless required by law," the company said in the letter.
Tahitian Noni will use other methods to test products, including test-tube experiments and chemical testing, said Shon White, vice president of marketing and communications for the company.
"We're intent on being an environment-friendly, animal-friendly and family-friendly company," he said.
Tahitian Noni's decision to stop the tests, where tumors were created in mice to test the effects of the juice on them, will have a "lasting impact" in the corporate world, PETA said.
"We anticipate this will be a rather big paradigm shift in the way big corporations, especially juice companies, conduct research," said Shalin Gala, a PETA research associate.
Other juice makers have stopped their animal testing at the request of PETA.
------ Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
