Leading food companies have been accused of conducting “cruel and unnecessary” animal experiments to demonstrate the health benefits of their products.
The animals, including rabbits, rats and piglets, suffered as a result of the growing fascination with so-called “superfoods”, according to the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV).
Names including Yakult, Unilever, Nestle and Danone had allegedly been been involved in “sickening” tests. All the work identified in research papers by the animal welfare group was said to have been published in the last two years.
One experiment linked to Unilever tested the infection-fighting properties of Lipton tea on piglets.
Ninety-six animals were housed in isolation and fed tea for six days before being infected with E. coli bacteria to induce diarrhoea, it was claimed.
