The bitter side of chocolate – Newberry Observer

Chocolate is often hailed as an aphrodisiac and Americans seem to have quite the love affair with the sweet confection in all its forms. Charles M. Schulz best summed up America's love of chocolate when he said, “all you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.” Chocolate originated in Central and South America with the Mayans, Aztecs and Toltecs. However, it did not become connected to the holiday, Valentine's Day, until the late 1800s when Richard Cadbury, of England, began selling chocolates in a heart shaped box. Today, U.S. chocolate sales for Valentine's Day only trail behind holiday sales for Halloween, Christmas and Easter. It is estimated by 2027 that sales of the confection will be more than $1 trillion dollars annually worldwide.

The sinister side of chocolate is that although Americans often make chocolate synonymous with love and happiness, its origins before market for many chocolate products is ghastly. The U.S. Department of Labor's ILAB lists cocoa or cacao bean (which derivative is the key ingredient of chocolate) as a product known to be produced by child labor and forced labor in the following countries: Brazil; Cameroon; Columbia; Cote d'Ivoire; Ghana; Guinea; and Sierra Leone. Human Rights organizations reports find that children as young as seven have been trafficked and forced into harvesting cocoa beans.

In 2021, International Rights Advocates, a human rights organization, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of eight former child trafficking victims against major chocolate companies, whose brands are often found in American households, for aiding and abetting in child and labor trafficking. This lawsuit was filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVRPA), which contains both criminal and civil provisions. Much of the cocoa beans used in production of chocolate are from enslaved persons despite the United States' Harkin-Engel protocol (developed from a legislative amendment in 2001) which was aimed at eliminating the use of child labor and forced labor in cocoa production by 2005. The protocol is a public-private voluntary agreement signed by US officials, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), eight chocolate companies, chocolate industry representatives, and government officials from West Africa. This agreement sadly continues to be extended to allow for compliance and currently is extended to 2025 with the goal of reducing child labor by only 70%.

With the controversy surrounding cocoa beans, several chocolate manufacturers have taken action to ensure their beans are ethically sourced and produce fair trade chocolates. This has also created a boon in boutique small batch chocolatiers across the United States who focus on fair trade confections. However, buyer beware, some of the largest chocolate companies (cited by human rights organizations as purchasing cocoa produced by child and forced labor) have begun fair trade lines to profit from a piece of the niche fair trade market.

So, before the next bite, research the manufacturer listed on the label and find out the chocolate's true origin.

Professor Haynes Eshleman joined Newberry College in 2018 after a distinguished legal career in both the private and public sector. Haynes Eshleman is a three time recipient of the Top Lawyer Main Line Today award. She is also an advocacy award recipient from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) of Philadelphia for her legal work. She was a frequent lecturer with the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and various county bar associations. Her areas of research interest include intimate partner violence (IPV), human trafficking, child abuse, animal cruelty, juvenile justice, Immigration, and due process.