"Mondelez Knows Production Processes Rely on Cocoa Farmers Using Child Labor, Lawsuit Alleges", 31 Jan 2024

A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Mondelez International has become one of the world’s largest snack food and chocolate companies in part by paying local cocoa farmers as little as $3 per day, which forces the farmers to use “child and child-slave labor,” while deceptively claiming on product packaging that it is socially and environmentally responsible. 

The 30-page complaint alleges that Mondelez, whose brands include Chips Ahoy!, Clif Bar, Toblerone and Oreos, among many others, is aware that its production practices “perpetuate child labor and child slavery” yet claims on product packaging that its foods are “certified” or “100% sustainable,” or that the company “supports” or “helps” farmers, “when it knows the opposite is true.”...

Further, the filing alleges Mondelez’s environmental practices “devastate the local environment” in that its supply chain has virtually no protection standards in place. To the contrary, the case says, the chocolate industry is responsible for massive deforestation in the Ivory Coast...

According to the lawsuit, the “deceptive labeling” on Mondelez products has misled consumers into believing the items are sourced in accordance with environmentally and socially responsible standards. The plaintiff claims she and other consumers would not have purchased Mondelez products had they known the company’s packaging included misrepresentations as to its reliance on fair labor and environmental practices...

According to the suit, Mondelez falsely assures through its “Cocoa Life” program that the company is looking to “accelerate positive impact and help drive sector transformation” and that it is “working to help prevent and combat the risk of child labor.” The case argues, however, that this is no more than a method by which Mondelez can “claim to make progress while actually shirking accountability by placing responsibility for its own supply chain onto the cocoa growing communities, suppliers, and partners.”... 

The lawsuit looks to cover all United States residents who bought Mondelez products marked with the “Cocoa Life” seal, or as “sustainably sourced,” “100% sustainable,” “[improving] the lives of farmers,” or any other false sustainability claim within the last four years.