According to BBC News, a ground-breaking report done by Fair Labor Association shows that Nestle, the world’s largest food company “has been accused of failing to carry out checks on child labor and other abuses in part of its cocoa supply chain. A report by an independent auditor, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), says it found ‘multiple serious violations’ of the company’s own supplier code. The code includes clauses on child labor, safety and working hours… FLA says this is the first time a multi-national chocolate producer has allowed its procurement system to be completely traced and assessed. It believes the flaws it uncovered apply to all the big chocolate companies.”
BBC reports that “FLA investigators tracked the journey of cocoa from the poorest and most remote villages to the exporters that sold directly to Nestle. They found that while Nestle insisted their primary suppliers – mostly big multi-nationals – agree to their code, it often went no further, despite Nestle knowing the supply chain involved many other stages.”
Rest of BBC News story
Full FLA report on Nestle cocoa supply chain, and Nestle’s action plan
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