Probably a statement like 'no new animal testing' would be more accurate. Unlike drugs, FDA does not require pre-market approval for cosmetics. However, if a safety problem with a cosmetic product arises after it's been marketed, FDA can take action to obtain the manufacturer's safety data on the product. Because there is not yet enough information on alternatives to animal testing to validate their use in ensuring human safety, FDA, at this point, would only accept animal safety data. The most widely used, and possibly most controversial, animal test, the Draize Eye Irritancy Test, involves putting drops of the substance in question into the eye of an albino rabbit.
Investigators then note if any redness, swelling, cloudiness of the iris, or corneal opacity occurs.
In addition, the ability of the eye to repair any damage is noted. Wilcox explains that for FDA to approve other methods, those methods will have to produce test results that can be reproduced in other labs. In addition, databases will have to correlate historical animal test results with newer lab results. The basic purpose of the review is to gather information from the scientific literature and from company files on the safety of cosmetic ingredients and make that information publicly available. FDA's division of toxicological review and evaluation is currently evaluating two alternatives for the Draize eye test.