Did you know that Nestlé (along with Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill) are accused of using child slavery to harvest cocoa on plantations in the Côte d’Ivoire? Apparently this has been going on since at least the 1990s and three victims have managed to make it to the US to sue.

Though Nestlé, ADM, and Cargill do not own any cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast, they have exclusive buyer-seller relationships with Ivorian farms—making them the primary importers of the country’s cocoa harvest into the United States, according to court documents.

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The Malian plaintiffs alleged that the companies not only bought Ivorian cocoa with full knowledge that it was being harvested from child labor, but also provided cocoa farmers with money, supplies, and training to assist them in growing the crop.

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The corporations also successfully halted the passage of a 2001 congressional bill that would have created a consumer label on cocoa products certifying that cocoa ingredients were not grown or harvested using child labor. In response to heavy lobbying, Congress instead adopted a voluntary agreement with corporations to work toward ending child labor.

But the enslavement of children has largely continued unabated.

Sounds like congress, standing up for the rights of those impoverished third-world childre.. oh, sorry, American multinational corporations. I'm sure that was a real hard sell for the lobbyists.

They filed their lawsuit under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 law that states non-U.S.-citizens can file lawsuits in American courts for violations of international law. A California court dismissed the suit in 2010, saying corporations couldn't be sued under the ATS, however on appeal, a federal panel "ruled that the corporations can be held liable under the ATS because the defendants 'acted with the purpose to support child slavery.'"

Ultimately, “The allegations suggest that a myopic focus on profit over human welfare drove the defendants to act with the purpose of obtaining the cheapest cocoa possible, even if it meant facilitating child slavery,” the judges wrote.

But Nestlé, ADM, and Cargill are not giving up the fight. In May, they requested the federal appeals court to withhold its court order until they petition the Supreme Court to take on the case.

I'm so glad Nestlé and friends are not ready to give up the fight for child slavery. I guess corporate chocolate just isn't as tasty when it's not made through debasement and disregard for basic human rights. Apparently, Hershey might also be involved in supporting similar practices at their plantations as well; it's a not so pleasant thought I'll have next time I see a Hershey or Nestlé chocolate bar.