Seven large brands accused of forced labor

What is happening: The Rainforest Action Network have accused seven large brands surrounding palm oil supply of being linked to forced labor.

Who is accused: Cargill, Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

FGV: This comes after the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil investigated pal oil supplier FGV. They found that FGV were guilty of found forced labor, human trafficking, unsafe living conditions and other RSPO criteria breaches. As a result, FGV’s customers are now also facing judgement.

What did a Hershey’s spokesperson say: “Failing any progress or acceptable remediation solutions, we will not hesitate to take the adequate measures such as suspension or removal of a mill or producer from our supply chain.”

What did a PepsiCo spokesperson say: “We have activated our grievance process and are in contact with our direct suppliers in relation to the RSPO decision.”

What did a spokesperson for Mars say: “Collaboration is critical to making long-term improvements. [We] are actively engaging with our tier 1 suppliers to confirm next steps for our supply chain.”

What did Executive Director with Malaysian human rights organization Tenaganita, Glorene Das say: “Global palm oil buyers must hold palm oil companies to account. We cannot allow these crimes to persist.”