Japan-based conglomerate Ajinomoto Co. Inc.—the world’s largest manufacturer of the controversial food flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) and owner of packaged frozen-food brands Tai Pei, Ling Ling, and José Olé—has been tormenting thousands of pigs, dogs, rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs, mice, rats, and fish in horrific and deadly tests for its ingredients since the 1950s. PETA is waging a campaign to end these worthless experiments—and you can help.
PETA Asia’s Mobile Billboard Delivers a Message to Ajinomoto
April 7, 2022
Because other companies throughout Japan are running circles around Ajinomoto by dropping cruel animal tests not required by law, PETA Asia encircled the company’s headquarters and other offices with a mobile billboard featuring an outspoken mouse, repeatedly blasting the message, “Ajinomoto! Stop Testing on Animals!” (in Japanese). PETA Asia’s campaigners also gave leaflets to staff at their offices and warehouses across Tokyo as they entered work, a strategy designed to pressure executives to explain to their own staff why they’re testing on animals.
@petaasia_japan 昨日の午後は#味の素 の川崎工場へ行き#動物実験 の廃止を求めました#神奈川#川崎#工場
♬ オリジナル楽曲 – PETAアジア 動物の倫理的扱いを求める人々の会 JAPAN – PETAアジア 動物の倫理的扱いを求める人々の会 JAPAN
A ‘Rat’ in Downtown Tokyo Urges Ajinomoto to End Animal Testing
March 23, 2022
A video of a “rat” who stood in a busy Tokyo crosswalk holding a sign that read, “Ajinomoto: Stop Animal Testing” (in Japanese), has gone viral, with more than 1 million views so far! The “rat” was part of a PETA Asia protest against MSG giant Ajinomoto’s use of mice and other animals in cruel and deadly experiments to make dubious health claims for marketing its products.
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Ajinomoto Misleads About Deadly Animal Tests, Unlike Competitors
November 18, 2021
In response to Ajinomoto’s statement made during its recent annual meeting that it would not test on animals, PETA issued the following statement:
Despite assurances that Ajinomoto Co., Inc., the world’s leading maker of MSG, made during a recent annual meeting that it would not test on animals for nonmedicinal foods, three new studies prove that it continues to support horrific, animal-killing experiments indiscriminately.
The company conducted an experiment testing essential amino acids—which are present in just about any food, medicinal or not—in which experimenters drilled holes into the skulls of genetically altered mice, injected viral substances into their brains, force-fed them amino acids, took their blood, and killed and dissected them. Ajinomoto also contributed materials to another test in which experimenters repeatedly deprived mice of water overnight, fed them common food substances such as miso and MSG, cut open their faces to expose a nerve, inserted electrodes into their faces, killed them, and cut off their tongues. In yet another test to which Ajinomoto donated materials, experimenters mated pigs, fed the mothers common amino acids, cut them open and took their uteri and babies, and then killed and dissected the babies.
These animals endured horrendous torment so that Ajinomoto could enhance its bottom line. They suffered and died for nothing more than profit, in tests not even required by law. Ajinomoto, a company with a long history of harming dogs and other animals, must immediately get on the right side of history and listen to the more than 230,000 people who have called on it to join the dozens of global food companies—including MSG competitors like McCormick & Company and B&G Foods—that have banned animal tests after discussions with PETA.
PETA Protests Tokyo Olympics Sponsor Ajinomoto Over Animal Testing
August 3, 2021
Shockingly, Ajinomoto Co. Inc. not only still conducts horrific and worthless tests on animals but also is an official partner of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a regular sponsor of the Tokyo Stadium, also known as the Ajinomoto Stadium. That’s why PETA Asia’s “rat” mascot, Rei, stood outside the facility today to call for Ajinomoto’s name to be kept off it.
Olympics Composer’s Bullying Is Not the Only Abuse Scandal Plaguing the Games
July 19, 2021
In response to an additional abuse allegation plaguing the Tokyo Olympic Games in the wake of Keigo Oyamada’s resignation over bullying, PETA issued the following statement:
While the world reels from the bizarre news that Keigo Oyamada, a composer working on the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, once forced a classmate to eat his own feces and masturbate in front of others, it is not the only abuse scandal plaguing the games.
Ajinomoto Co., Inc., sponsor of the Olympic National Training Center and the world’s leading maker of MSG, forces animals to run on treadmills at high speeds until they become exhausted, swim for their lives in near-drowning tests, fight strangers, and leap away from electric shocks in pseudo-scientific tests that resemble nothing so much as a depraved version of Olympic Trials. But in Ajinomoto’s “games,” all the participants are killed and dissected in the end—simply so that the company can make dubious marketing claims about the human health effects of its products.
Similar in offensiveness to Oyamada’s apparent abuse of vulnerable individuals, Ajinomoto has force-fed mice bacteria isolated from the feces of other diseased mice and sexually abused cows by repeatedly poking their anuses and vulvae.
There is no excuse for Ajinomoto to continue these misguided animal tests, which are curiosity-driven and not required by law. More than 144,000 people have called on the company to join the ranks of the dozens of global food companies that have banned animal tests after discussions with PETA.
MSG Maker’s Deadly Tests on Animals to Bring Heat From PETA at Annual Meeting
June 22, 2021
“Will Ajinomoto commit to banning all animal testing that is not explicitly required by law, as dozens of other global food and beverage companies have already done?” That’s the question a PETA representative asked executives of Japanese conglomerate Ajinomoto Co. Inc. at its annual meeting. PETA purchased stock in the company last year to urge shareholders to end its experiments on animals.
Sexually Abusing and Bleeding Cows in Milk Test: Penn State, MSG Giant Slammed by PETA
June 9, 2021
In response to an animal experiment coauthored by Ajinomoto and Pennsylvania State University, PETA issued the following statement:
The world’s leading maker of MSG has harmed dogs and other animals for years—and now it’s using cows in experiments that are more like sexual abuse than science. In a recently published experiment at The Pennsylvania State University, sensitive cows were subjected to cruel tests to determine whether they could produce more milk if fed an Ajinomoto product. Specifically, experimenters fed cows feathers, blood, and the company’s test amino acid product; repeatedly milked them; repeatedly poked their anuses and vulvae; and repeatedly took their blood. There is no excuse for Ajinomoto to continue these misguided animal tests, which are curiosity-driven and not required by law. More than 144,000 people have called on Ajinomoto to join the ranks of the dozens of global food companies that have banned animal tests after discussions with PETA.
PETA Criticizes Monell Center and Ajinomoto for Cruel Experiment on Mice
May 10, 2021
In response to a recent animal experiment coauthored by Ajinomoto, PETA issued the following statement:
The world’s leading MSG maker, Ajinomoto, has been tormenting thousands of dogs and other animals in laboratories since the 1950s. In a recently published experiment in collaboration with the Monell Center, sensitive mice were subjected to cruel and deadly tests simply to determine whether they prefer sugar water or regular water. Specifically, experimenters dripped sugar water on the animals’ tongues and measured electrical responses from their nerves, which the experimenters cut open and exposed. They also repeatedly injected the mice with glucose and insulin, took their blood, and killed and dissected them. There is no excuse for Ajinomoto to continue these misguided animal tests, which are curiosity-driven, not required by law, and irrelevant to the company’s business. Ajinomoto should join the ranks of the dozens of global food companies that have banned animal tests after discussions with PETA, including Takasago International Corporation and McCormick & Company, Inc., which are corporate sponsors of the Monell Center but have prohibited their funding from being used for animal tests.
PETA Supporters Hound Ajinomoto With ‘Dog’ Delivery
April 29, 2021
PETA demonstrators carted a life-size dog statue—bearing more than 142,000 petition signatures—to an Ajinomoto office in Raleigh, North Carolina, in order to protest the MSG giant’s use of dogs and other animals in cruel, unnecessary experiments.
Ajinomoto—MSG Giant That Tortures Dogs and Others in Lethal Tests—Has a New Shareholder
October 9, 2020
PETA announced its recent purchase of stock in Japanese conglomerate Ajinomoto Co. Inc. in order to ask a question at its 2021 annual meeting. We’ll urge shareholders to end the company’s cruel and deadly tests, in which thousands of dogs and other animals have been used to make dubious health claims for marketing its food products and ingredients.
‘Rats’ Descend on Ajinomoto HQ to Protest Animal Testing
November 28, 2019
A group of “rats” protested Ajinomoto’s cruel tests on animals outside the company’s Malaysia offices in Kuala Lumpur.
The post Campaign Updates: Ajinomoto Conducts Deadly and Worthless Tests on Animals appeared first on PETA.