Are sheep killed to produce vitamin D from their lanolin?

The lanolin is obtained from their wool. But sheep are eventually killed for their flesh, so the answer to your question is actually yes. Wherever animal products are used, there is cruelty - and death - involved. There are rare exceptions, but this is almost always true. read more

Though extracting lanolin from wool is not itself harmful, the wool industry is. And by buying a product that contains this ingredient, you are still financially supporting them. And whether or not the sheep is killed in the process or getting this wool, sheared or mulesing (very cruel!), the sheep will be killed regardless when their production of wool starts to decline or in the process of mulesing itself. read more

To get vitamin D from lanolin, supplement manufacturers first purify it and crystallize it, then put it through a chemical process that produces a substance called 7-dehydrocholesterol. The 7-dehydrocholesterol is then liquefied in an organic solvent and exposed to ultraviolet radiation. read more