Hey Ladies: Was Your Sweet, Sweet Chocolate the Product of Child Labor? Possibly!
LatestBad news for ladies who love chocolate but also possess a basic code of ethics. Nestlé, after recently undergoing an investigation by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), have been accused of utilizing child labor in their cocoa-supply chain, which is a violation of the company’s own supplier code.
The food purveyor had commissioned the FLA inspection after increased global pressure (to Nestlé’s credit, they are the first multinational chocolate company to allow the assessment), with the independent auditor mapping the chocolate supply chain in the Ivory Coast, starting in small villages and working their way up to the company’s direct exporters. The assessment discovered that while most of Nestlé’s primary suppliers had agreed to the company’s code (which includes clauses on child labour, safety and working hours), violations ran rampant at the lower levels.