Reports indicate that Mars, the candy company, is allegedly using cocoa harvested by children as young as 5 in Ghana.
The investigation discovered children wielding machetes, nearly their size, working in blistering conditions on small farms across Ghana's remote cocoa belt, all supplying Mars, the producer of popular candies like M&Ms and Snickers.
Despite Mars' commitment to eliminating child labor in its supply chain by 2025, the investigation found children working at each farm visited. Mars had claimed to rescue thousands of children through a monitoring system, but copies of beneficiary lists obtained by a whistleblower reveal that some listed children are still working in the fields.
One such child is Munira, 15, who has been working in cocoa fields since she was 5. While Mars field supervisors provided her with a backpack and schoolbooks, her family revealed that no one had checked on her school attendance in the 18 months since the initial visit.
Allegations of falsified lists emerged, with a cocoa field supervisor admitting that much of the data used is inaccurate or fabricated. Dozens of children listed as beneficiaries were found not attending school, raising concerns about the efficacy of Mars' monitoring system.
Additionally, only a third of the 300 registered students at one school were attending classes, with all students confessing to cocoa harvesting either before or after school.
The investigation also visited a cocoa warehouse in Ghana that supplies Mars. An employee at the warehouse acknowledged child labor as an offense but couldn't guarantee that all handled cocoa was produced without it.
Human rights lawyer Terry Collingsworth has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against American chocolate companies, including Mars, alleging consumer fraud. The lawsuit includes statements from Ghanaian children working for Mars suppliers, revealing hazardous conditions, such as one child almost losing his fingers to a machete blade.
"They're telling the public that we're rehabilitating this kid, and then they're cynically coming here and just checking a box, and the kid is back working the next day," Collingsworth stated, emphasizing the severity of the allegations.
