THE REAL PRICE OF CHOCOLATE: TOMASELLA V. NESTLÉ USA, INC. AND THE UNRESTRAINED EXISTENCE OF TAINTED SUPPLY CHAINS
Volume 94, No. 3, Spring 2022
By Jacqueline Winton [PDF]

For the average American consumer, a chocolate bar is simply a sweet treat. This sweet treat is incredibly popular; the United States confectionery industry generates over $37 billion in sales each year. However, the sad truth is that the majority of America’s popular candy, and many other frequently consumed food products, are created in supply chains that use cruel and illegal forms of child and slave labor. Drissa, a former child cocoa laborer who has never tasted chocolate, stated: “When people eat chocolate they are eating my flesh.” Few would imagine that their favorite candy exists because young children in West Africa are illegally trafficked from their home countries and forced to perform hazardous labor.