Is Nutro ethical and cruelty-free?
Not really — Nutro fails 3 of the 4 ethics signals we track, including its animal-testing position, and holds no third-party certification we can verify.
Nutro is a mid-tier pet food brand owned by Mars Inc., known for its commitment to non-GMO ingredients and high-quality protein sources, but lacks major independent certifications and faces scrutiny over parent-company practices in animal testing and environmental impact.
The evidence, signal by signal
Cruelty-freeflagged
Nutro does not test on animals itself, but its parent company Mars Inc. conducts animal testing on some non-pet food products as required by law.
Vegan optionsunverified
Null - Nutro does not offer a vegan or vegetarian pet food line; all products contain animal proteins.
Sells in mainland Chinaflagged
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
Third-party certifiedflagged
No independent certifications recorded on the products we track.
Public pledges: Nutro has committed to 100% renewable electricity in US facilities by 2025 and a 15% water reduction since 2020, with parent company Mars aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050.
Scored with our public methodology. Profile last updated 2026-09-26.
More on Nutro
Is Nutro ethical? FAQs
Is Nutro cruelty-free?+
Nutro does not test on animals itself, but its parent company Mars Inc. conducts animal testing on some non-pet food products as required by law.
Does Nutro have vegan products?+
Null - Nutro does not offer a vegan or vegetarian pet food line; all products contain animal proteins.
Does Nutro sell in mainland China?+
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
What is Nutro's ethics score?+
Nutro averages —/100 across 0 products we score on certifications, sourcing, labour, packaging and transparency.
What are the best alternatives to Nutro?+
See our full list of ethical alternatives to Nutro for better-scoring options in the same categories.