PETA pushes Massachusetts, Washington to adopt humane testing methods
For immediate release:
February 15, 2022
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Seattle – Now that Massachusetts and Washington will begin selling shellfish to the European Union (EU) for human consumption, PETA is putting pressure on both states to adopt humane toxicity tests to confirm food safety, instead of using cruel and unscientific rat bioassays. The EU does not allow general use. In biological testing on mice, the fishery mixed shellfish samples and injected the liquid into the bodies of live rats, causing seizures, paralysis, and death in the presence of toxins — all to assess whether the animal Is the shell safe for humans to eat?
“An experiment using subjective data collection techniques, such as observing the ‘last breath’ of rats, is far from science. Instead, states must implement existing humane, cutting-edge approaches,” said Katherine Groff, MS, a PETA senior research associate. “PETA encourages these states to stop allowing biological testing on mice and urges everyone to exercise kindness to all animals, from rats to mollusks, by being vegetarian. “
PETA notes scientifically significant limitations to biological testing in mice. The World Health Organization and the European Food Safety Authority, together with experts at the US Food and Drug Administration, have noted that bioassays lack sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. correct, indicating the need to switch to better testing methods. Non-animal methods tend to be more specific and sensitive as well as less time consuming and expensive for each sample analyzed. Methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, and enzyme-linked immunoassays are available to test for all toxicants of concern in the United States.
PETA — in part, their motto that “animals are not our thing to experiment with” — advocates speciesism, a human worldview – supremacy. For more information on PETA’s news collection and investigative reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebookor Instagram.
