Is Colgate cruelty-free? Find out now! Logical Harmony helps make cruelty-free easy!

Colgate is one of the most widely known toothpaste out there. You can walk into almost any drugstore and find them. Colgate has been one of the most well-known toothpaste brands for a really long time. Lately, there has been a lot of confusion about the Colgate cruelty-free status. This is largely due to the launch of their new line which is being marketed as “vegan”. But what’s the truth?

Curious to know what’s currently going on with Colgate? Are they cruelty-free? Do they have any vegan options? Find out what their current stance on animal testing is in this post.

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Some of the best-selling cruelty-free toothpastes are:

Is Colgate cruelty-free? No. Colgate is not cruelty-free!

Unfortunately, Colgate does not meet the Logical Harmony standards to be considered a cruelty-free brand. They are on the Logical Harmony list of Brands to Avoid. Colgate has had this animal testing stance for a very long time.

What is the Colgate animal testing stance?

Currently, Colgate has an animal testing policy that states that Colgate does test on animals when required by law.

We are committed to work toward the elimination of laboratory safety testing using animals. Currently, over 99 percent of internal requests for safety assessment of our products are addressed by using available databases and non-animal alternatives.

Animal testing is only conducted where specifically required by regulatory agencies or where alternative testing methods are unavailable to ensure the safety of our products. In such limited instances, the tests are conducted only at contract testing facilities that meet both government standards and the more rigorous requirements established by Colgate with input from animal welfare groups.

There are government regulations in the United States and in many other countries that, as a condition of sale, specifically require animal testing be conducted to establish proof that a product is safe and to determine labeling instructions. However, when Colgate is faced with these regulatory requirements, we always seek first to convince the regulatory agency to accept an approach not requiring animals. Colgate has achieved a number of successes through such discussions. There are also circumstances where safety demonstrations are necessary but scientifically recognized alternatives to animal testing do not yet exist.

Per their own Product Safety doc, products are tested on animals when necessary. This is unfortunate because Colgate is such an easily accessible brand for so many.

Doesn’t Colgate market a new line as vegan?

A lot of confusion has come about lately with two new lines from Colgate. The first is the Smile For Good line.

There are two kinds of toothpaste in this line – one labeled Protection and another labeled Whitening. On the packaging, it says that it’s vegan and comes in a tube made from a recycled plastic tube.

The Smile For Good line is approved by The Vegan Society. When asked about Colgate’s animal testing status in relation to the products on Instagram, The Vegan Society said: “we do not register entire brands – we register individual products (to encourage brands to make more vegan products, and to make veganism accessible for all). These two toothpastes contain no animal ingredients and have not been tested on animals – that is why we are able to register them.”

There isn’t currently a product page on the Colgate website for the Smile for Good line but I have seen it in stores.

Colgate also recently launched the Colgate Zero line, which is also being promoted as a vegan-friendly line. This line has toothpaste, kids toothpaste, and mouthwash. This line is not certified by The Vegan Society from what I have seen.

While the page for the line itself does not boast that it’s vegan-friendly, the product pages for each product in this line do say that it’s vegan.

Some of the product pages list it at the top of the page, while other products only list “vegan” under the Benefits section.

Does Colgate claim to be cruelty-free?

It is important to note that the product pages for Colgate Zero do not say that it is not tested on animals or that it is cruelty-free. I have not seen Colgate promoting the Colgate Zero line or the Smile For Good line as cruelty-free.

It’s great to see a brand trying to make a vegan-option so easily available. It’s also frustrating because a lot of people are assuming that the use of “vegan” also means that it is cruelty-free.

There has been a lot of concern in the beauty world about brands that are not cruelty-free using the term vegan. It has been suggested that plant-based be used instead. Personally, I find this more confusing. To many others, plant-based implies that it’s a green beauty brand or a natural brand.

Does having vegan products mean a brand is cruelty-free?

Unfortunately, it does not. As I point out in my article about the difference between cruelty-free and vegan, the two terms are not the same. Cruelty-free does not mean vegan. Vegan does not mean cruelty-free.

A lot of people do see the terms as meaning similar things, it’s very important to be familiar with how brands use them. Some use “vegan” to describe a product that is not tested on animals and also does not contain animal ingredients. However, that is not how the terms are widely used. It is not how brands use the terms.

Cruelty-free just means that no animal testing occurred on the products.

Cruelty-free products can contain animal ingredients such as beeswax, carmine, lanolin, and others.

Vegan just means that there are no animal ingredients used in the product.

Vegan products can be tested on animals. While they don’t contain animal ingredients like beeswax, carmine, lanolin, etc the product may be tested on animals and still be called vegan.

What are some cruelty-free toothpaste brands?

Thankfully, there are some great cruelty-free toothpaste brands out there. Some of the cruelty-free options at drugstores are Nature’s Gate, Jason, Kiss My Face, Schmidt’s Naturals*, Hello Products*, Tom’s of Maine*, Burt’s Bees*, and Superdrug.

* It should be noted that they are cruelty-free, but their parent company is not.

Looking for more cruelty-free brands?

Here on Logical Harmony, you can find a full list of cruelty-free brands as well as shopping guides to help you find the cruelty-free brands at Dermstore, Ulta, Nordstrom, Sephora, Beauty Bay, Beautylish, Cult Beauty, and tons more. There are also lots of vegan product lists for cruelty-free brands too.

Some of the best-selling cruelty-free toothpastes are: