Manufacturers and brands of vegan products in the cosmetics and personal care industry can now ensure that their products are efficacy tested on non-animal derived culture media, thanks to the launch of VeganSure, by MSL.
VeganSure is a brand new and unique testing solution, which replaces all animal-derived ingredients with plant derived or synthetic alternatives, to assure the safety of a cosmetic product without compromising vegan ethics.
Under EU regulations, specifically Cosmetic Regulation 1223/2009, every cosmetic or personal care product placed on the EU market must have a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR). This involves products undergoing a ‘Preservative Efficacy or Challenge Test (ISO 11930)’ to ensure their microbiological quality, establishing that their preservative system can withstand microbial contamination during use.
This routine regulatory microbiology testing is performed using a variety of dehydrated culture media, which all have different properties, functions and nutritional benefits.
Historically, these tests have relied on standard culture media and neutralisers which are derived from animal by-products. Thanks to MSL’s innovative VeganSure solution, brands can now ensure their products are tested with vegan alternatives for both the main cosmetic tests required in the EU: Microbial Limits and the Preservative Efficacy (Challenge) Testing.
All animal derived ingredients have been replaced with plant derived or synthetic alternatives, such as papaya-derived enzymes, soya bean, sugars from potatoes, cornmeal and plant peptones. MSL also ensures separate workflows to ensure there is no cross-contamination.
Alex Fotheringham, Operations Director – Cosmetics at MSL, comments, "There are roughly 3.5 million vegans in the UK, and the demand for animal-free and cruelty-free beauty and cosmetic products is quickly growing. Over the past two years we have seen an explosion in the number of cosmetic products claiming to be vegan.
"To help support these claims, we have developed a novel and ethical testing solution, that not only assures the safety of products and meets the requirements of the EU Cosmetic Regulation, but also offers a truly vegan alternative."
Chantelle Adkins, Head of Business Development at The Vegan Society, comments, "VeganSure marks a major advance in the cosmetics and beauty industry, offering manufacturers and brands of vegan products an alternative way of testing for the very first time. The Vegan Society fully supports initiatives that make adopting a vegan lifestyle more accessible – and this new, unique testing solution does just that."
VeganSure is registered with The Vegan Society’s Trademark. For more information about VeganSure, please visit www.msl.io/vegansure.
