Japan-based conglomerate Ajinomoto Co., Inc.—the world's largest manufacturer of the controversial food flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) as well as the owner of packaged frozen food brands Tai Pei, Ling Ling, and José Olé—has been tormenting thousands of dogs, fish, gerbils, guinea pigs, mice, pigs, rabbits, and rats in horrific and deadly experiments since the 1950s. The company has refused to end worthless animal testing using its ingredients.
It's time Ajinomoto paid attention, and we need your help.
Why Animal Testing?
Food companies frequently torment and kill animals in abusive tests to make dubious human health claims about food products and ingredients in order to market them to consumers. But the truth is that these experiments aren't required by law, nor do they have any relevance to human health.
It doesn't have to be this way. Superior non-animal research methods, including studies safely conducted on human volunteers or donated human tissue, are readily available, more affordable than animal tests, and far more reliable.
What Is Ajinomoto Doing to Animals?
Even though the majority (51% to 57%) of Japanese adults agree that “animal experiments are painful and cruel acts” and that “animals in experiments are to be pitied,” Ajinomoto still refuses to ban these worthless tests. Ajinomoto experimenters have cut open dogs' stomachs and inserted tubes, starved them for 18 hours, given them liquid diets with MSG and other common amino acids, taken their stomach fluid, and injected them with drugs. They've also fed rabbits a common amino acid, starved them, repeatedly taken their blood, and then killed and dissected them. And Ajinomoto has funded or conducted recently published experiments in which rats or mice have endured their nerves being cut and have been starved, forced to run or swim, force-fed, injected with a variety of toxic cancer drugs, electroshocked, and cut open, causing some to die from botched surgeries while others were killed and dissected.
In this test funded by Ajinomoto, experimenters at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul taped splints to rats’ hind legs and left the animals to suffer this way for two weeks to force their muscles to deteriorate. Results of this experiment aren’t translatable to humans, owing to the profound biological and physiological differences between species.
What's PETA Doing to Help?
PETA is leading the global effort to end abhorrent animal testing in the food and beverage industry. Major companies such as Barilla, Heineken and Bacardí have adopted new policies banning animal tests following talks with PETA scientists. It's time that Ajinomoto joined the dozens of other food and beverage companies throughout the world that, after talking with PETA, have stopped funding or conducting shocking animal tests that aren't even required by law.
Please take action and let Ajinomoto know that it's time it banned animal testing.
You can do so by sending polite comments to the following people. To contact them with one message, just copy and paste this block of e-mail addresses in the “To” field of your e-mail:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Feel free to use these talking points (but remember that using your own words is always more effective):
- I was shocked to learn that Ajinomoto Co. has been funding and conducting cruel and deadly tests on dogs, mice, and other animals for decades. Please immediately end all animal tests that aren’t required by law.
- Ajinomoto experimenters have cut open dogs’ stomachs and inserted tubes, starved the dogs for 18 hours, given them liquid diets with MSG and other common amino acids, taken their stomach fluid, and injected them with drugs.
- It’s ethically wrong—and bad business—to make animals suffer in laboratories so that your company can market your products to consumers.
- Other major food and beverage companies, such as Barilla and Heineken, have already banned animal testing after discussions with PETA.
Then, use the form below to contact other Ajinomoto employees.