Taiwan FDA Drops Animal Test Recommendation for Digestive Health Claims Following PETA Push
For Immediate Release:
January 20, 2026
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
In another important win for animals, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) no longer recommends that companies conduct cruel experiments on animals to establish dubious claims about digestion for marketing food and beverage products sold in Taiwan. This move comes after the TFDA heard from PETA and more than 25,000 PETA supporters.
The agency had recommended that experimenters force-feed rats, starve them for 24 hours, jam tubes into their intestines, tie off part of their stomachs, and take their digestive fluids before killing and dissecting them.
The policy change is the latest in a series of regulatory revisions that PETA pressure has forced the agency to make. Animals are no longer drowned, shocked, sickened, and more so that Taiwan-based companies can say their products are anti-fatigue, lower blood pressure, promote bone and tooth health, or other marketing claims. The TFDA also now prioritizes internationally recognized, non-animal tests to assess safety for health food.
“Like all other thinking, feeling beings, rats don’t deserve to be tormented, mutilated, and killed in experiments just so companies can make claims about food and beverages,” says PETA Asia President Jason Baker. “PETA celebrates this compassionate move and calls on companies still experimenting on animals to take note and transition to human-relevant research.”
Following discussions with PETA, dozens of food and beverage companies—including some major companies in Taiwan—have committed to end (or never start) experiments on animals. PETA is calling on Taiwan Sugar Corp. to follow suit.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
