Dear Editor ...

Dear Stan,
I was dismayed to read in last week’s GulfWeekly about the frightening treatment meted out by staff of The Body Shop recently to an 11-year-old customer who accidentally dropped a tub of bubble bath in its Seef Mall outlet.

The girl’s mother is quoted as saying that her family has ‘always supported the Body Shop because of its ethical views’ and that her daughter likes the products ‘because they do not test them on animals’.  This led me to wonder how many consumers in the Gulf are aware that Anita Roddick and her partners sold the Body Shop to the world’s biggest cosmetics company, L’Oréal, a year ago in a deal worth £652m (BBC, 17/3/06). 
On the same day, a Guardian Unlimited Special Report stated that the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection said it would question the Body Shop about how it could retain its cruelty-free status under L’Oréal (itself 26 per cent owned by Nestlé) ownership.
Since then, a number of animal rights groups including Naturewatch and Uncaged have called for their supporters to boycott Body Shop products because L’Oréal continues to use ingredients that are tested on animals. Director of Naturewatch, John Ruane, is quoted as saying “If you spend your money at the Body Shop, it could now go to animal testing.”
The following statement appears on the Naturewatch website (www.naturewatch.org) dated 31st January 2007:  “Since the announcement in March 2006 that the Body Shop was to be sold to cosmetics multinational giant L’Oréal, Naturewatch supporters have been voicing their dismay with letters, phone calls, emails and protests outside Body Shop stores up and down the country.”
These supporters in the UK have been protesting peacefully, informing passers-by about the takeover.  One  is quoted as saying “On the first day I went into the shop and spoke to the Manageress and she said that she’d been told L’Oréal had not tested on animals since 1989! We have been supported very well by shoppers – it is, however, surprising to find how many folk do not know that L’Oréal now own The Body Shop.”
The Guardian Unlimited report said L’Oréal  had not tested its actual cosmetics on animals since 1990, but continues to test new ingredients on animals as is required under European Law.  The company says it aims to phase out the use of animal testing within 20 years.
Regardless of one’s stance on animal testing, I believe it’s important that consumers know the facts they need to make informed choices.  It seems that the Body Shop may no longer be a retail outlet that is totally committed to the philosophies on which it built its reputation. 
L’Oréal, however, is still sitting pretty despite a rumoured drop in Body Shop sales since the takeover - in February this year it reported its 22nd consecutive annual rise in operating profit, which rose 12.2 per cent to £1.7 billion. 
Doubtless its shareholders are happy - in fact, they’re probably luxuriating in Body Shop bubble bath as you read this.
Yours faithfully,
Tanya Lunn,
Bahrain.

Dear Stan,
Thank you for the Whisperer’s comment in last week’s GulfWeekly. Please note that I was the one who confirmed Prince Andrew’s visit.
“A British Embassy Spokes-woman confirmed Prince Andrew’s fleeting visit” .
Kindly note that I was the one who sent you the fax on Thursday the 8th of March, ie: Before the announcement of the visit in GDN.
Best regards,
Karen El-Zein
The British Embassy
Political,Press & Public Affairs Officer

Write to Stan Szecowka,
Editor, Gulf Weekly,
Al Hilal Group, PO Box 5300
Manama, Bahrain or
email: editor@gulfweekly.com