EXS – Vegan Condoms and the NHS

LTC Healthcare and our brand, EXS condoms, have been supplying the NHS since 1993. We are an independent, UK based, SME company and are passionate about providing high quality and innovative products to our customers. EXS is distributed in over 27 countries around the world selling roughly 12 million condoms per year.

We set out with the clear mission statement of making our EXS condom range accessible and ethical and it was this mission that led to our products being certified by the Vegan Society as well as being PETA approved.

One question many people ask is: “aren’t all condoms vegan?”. The simple answer to this is, no. Many condom manufacturers use casein in their formulations. Casein is added to the latex to make a condom soft and pliable, however casein is a protein derived from milk.

Aside from casein, some other brands claim to be vegan as they do not include animal by-products in their formulation. However, the sad truth is that they sometimes do not mention that testing is often done in laboratories that carry out tests on animals.

This archaic testing method features as part of Medical Device Biocompatibility Testing, which is the measurement of how compatible a device is with a biological system. The good news, is that there are ways of avoiding testing on animals, including in-vitro testing, however due to the increased costs associated with this testing method, some sadly choose to avoid this option.

However, the good news is that ethical brands like EXS are proud to display the vegan trademark, and we shall continue to do so, supplying the NHS and other organisations with access to vegan and cruelty free condoms.

Finally, after nearly 30 years in business, we know that not one size fits all and have made every effort to expand our range so that people of all sizes can enjoy our vegan range from our smallest condom, Snug Fit, which has a flat width of 49mm all the through to our largest, EXS Jumbo, with a flat width of 69mm.

For more information, get in touch with us at: info@ltchealthcare.co.uk