Because of Hershey, Nestlé and Mars, the odds are substantial that a chocolate bar bought in the United States is the product of child labor.

About two-thirds of the world’s cocoa supply comes from West Africa, and in 2015 the U.S. Labor Department reported that more than 2 million children were performing dangerous labor to harvest cocoa. These kids, some starting as young as 10, are employed at extremely low wages or even, in many cases, no wages. They are swinging machetes, carrying heavy loads, spraying pesticides — all considered the “worst forms of child labor” under international law.

The link between American chocolate and child slave labor in West Africa has come under scrutiny in the past. But when a measure to create a federal labeling system to indicate whether child slaves had been used in harvesting cocoa didn’t pass, the chocolate industry—adamant that it didn’t need federal regulation to fix the problem—compromised with the federal government.

Though they promised to eradicate child labor from their supply chains 20 years ago, today, these same companies say they cannot guarantee that the chocolate you buy is free from child labor -- child labor remains a huge part of the supply chain!

The agreement was not legally binding, and the chocolate companies were largely left to self-regulate. This is just one more example of so called ‘self regulation’ leading to business as usual.

This is a gross malpractice and we must demand an end to it immediately! We must demand that Hershey, Nestlé and Mars cease child labor practices NOW!