PETA pushes ban on animal tests in Taiwan

[Warning: Some viewers may find the images disturbing] In Taiwan, tens of thousands of animals have been used in often cruel laboratory experiments so that food companies can make claims about their products' benefits to health and safety. In many cases, the government does not require animal experiments and actually prefers human studies because they are more accurate, but many companies think that's too costly or time consuming. As a result, consumers unknowingly consume food, beverage and health supplements that have been experimented on animals in inhumane ways. In April, however, the U.S.-based animal rights group - People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals (PETA) - convinced Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) to ban two types of experiments it had previously recommended for use to make anti-fatigue claims for marketing food and beverages. One tested how long animals that had been given the products could keep swimming until they drowned and the other how long they could run at increasing speeds on a treadmill before they are so exhausted that they slide onto an electrified plate. In May, PETA also convinced one of Taiwan's biggest health food companies, Standard Foods Corp. -- which makes PepsiCo's Quaker oats and many products -- to stop conducting animal tests not required by law. Despite these victories, PETA says there are still several types of cruel animal experiments allowed by the TFDA and many Taiwanese companies continue to use animal experimentation instead of safe and more effective human studies. PETA has written to 19 other major health food companies in Taiwan that it said collectively force-fed, electroshocked, drowned, starved, bled, poisoned, dissected and/or killed more than 8,000 animals over the past two decades in laboratory experiments not required by law, and launched an online petition urging them to ban this archaic practice. Hear one PETA scientist describe what happens to the animals and how you can help end such treatment of animals.