Research carried out between December 2024 and February 2024
At Just Kai our bottom line is that our food should be free of child and slave labour right back to the original boat or farm.
Within this, where possible, we also:
- identify goods produced in low income countries (as buying those increases employment opportunities there);
- identify which goods are produced in the best labour conditions available (supporting those brands will increase the pool of good jobs people have to choose from).
The reasons behind these principles are explained in more detail here.
You might be surprised to hear that the processed tomatoes in your tinned tomatoes, pasta sauce and pizza paste may not be free of forced labour. The main risks occur on the farm, especially in Italy and China.
What’s the Problem?
Italy is home to a large number of migrants from areas like Africa and Eastern Europe. These workers are often forced to live in squalid conditions and are frequently exploited by mafia-run agricultural systems. For example, in Italy, the “caporalato” system still occurs, despite being illegal. This involves “Caporali” gang masters recruiting workers on behalf of farmers, and force workers to pay substantial costs for transport, housing, and other necessities. As these workers are often undocumented, they lack the safety of the law and face the fear of deportation. They experience horrific living and working conditions with low pay (which they often have to sacrifice for transport to work), lack of food, clothing, healthcare, and sanitation.
Tomatoes are labelled as a high-risk good for child labour in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay. They are a high-risk good for both child and forced labour in Mexico. We recommend that you use caution when purchasing from these areas.
Additionally, China is also known for using forced labour in its tomato processing.
-> add people working against their will
-> coercive transfer of land use rights
The majority of tomatoes sourced from China originate from the Xinjiang region, where Muslim minorities such as the Uyghurs experience forced labour, abysmal working conditions, and abuse.
This area produces a quarter to a third of the world’s tomatoes.
These tomatoes are often sent to the UK market, as the US has banned exports from Xinjiang. Recently, NZ company Heinz Wattie’s Limited has been accused of using tomatoes sourced from Chinese forced labour.
What do we recommend?
We contacted a range of brands to find out if they have policies in place to prevent slavery and forced labour. These are the brands that assured us they are taking steps to mitigate risk in their tomato supply chains.
Please note: this guide focuses on processed tomatoes i.e. tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, etc rather than fresh tomatoes. We assume that most fresh tomatoes produced in New Zealand are at low risk of slave or forced labour.
We fully recommend:
Ceres Organics produces a range of tomato products including tinned whole and chopped tomatoes, tinned cherry tomatoes, tinned chopped tomatoes with basil, tomato passata, tomato sauce, and pasta sauce. They ensure their suppliers operate under an Ethics code that covers policies against slavery and human trafficking. They claim that their suppliers are audited by a third-party and hold certifications in social accountability. Each supplier must pass a SEDEX Ethical Trade audit, which involves factory tours and personnel interviews, and covers labour standards, health and safety, environmental, and business ethics.
Naked Kitchen produces soups containing tomatoes. They usually source them from NZ, which is at low risk of forced labour. Where necessary, they import tomatoes from the USA from Davis Foods, who claim to screen suppliers to a similar standard to remove any exploitive or discriminatory behaviour from their source supplier.
MAGGI (part of Nestlé) produces soups and recipes bases containing tomatoes. Although they do not use tomatoes sourced from Italy, they have responsible sourcing core requirements that their suppliers must meet. This includes requirements that work must be voluntary with no forced labour or threats.
McCain makes pizzas containing tomato paste. They claim to have several initiatives in place to prevent modern slavery in their supply chain including a Supplier Code of Conduct and annual reporting.
Rana is an Australian brand that make pasta products, some of which include tomatoes. They claim to carry out assessments to verify working conditions. Suppliers must comply with their Supplier Code of Conduct, which has requirements for environmental responsibility, human rights, and worker protection - in particular on issues of health and safety and equal treatment in the workplace.
Keri Juice (part of The Coca-Cola Company) sells tomato juice. They say they use multiple suppliers, but they have a Human Rights Policy that has zero-tolerance for modern slavery, forced labour, or other human trafficking.
SPC sell tinned tomatoes and baked beans in tomato sauce. They source their tomatoes from growers in Australia, from farms where crops are mechanically harvested to reduce manual labour. They also have a Supplier Code of Conduct which includes a Modern Slavery clause to specify their ethical practices and expectations for suppliers.
We partially recommend:
Dolmio responded that they use Australian tomatoes where possible, which are at low risk of forced labour. They mentioned that when they are unable to source Australian tomatoes, they import tomatoes from the USA. There is some risk of forced labour exploitation from USA tomatoes.
We are fairly sure that most tomatoes grown and picked in New Zealand or Australia are free of slave or forced labour.
However, there is a risk that these brands will purchase from overseas when supply is low. We recommend that you check the packaging of particular products if you are unsure.
NZ tomatoes are used in:
- Wattie’s chopped tomatoes marked as being from Hawke’s Bay
- Wattie’s crushed and sieved tomatoes (also marked as being from Hawke’s Bay)
- Market Kitchen tomato sauce BUT none of their other tomato products
- Anathoth pizza sauces and relishes
- Tomato powder from Dry NZ
Australian tomatoes are used in:
- Woolworths own brand tomato paste sachets
- Woolworths taco sauce
- Leggos tomato paste (comes in sachets, pottles, squeeze bottles and jars AND Leggos pasta sauces) but NOT the Providore pasta sauce range
Melissa’s research
New Articles Found
UK tomatoes (slavery in China)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crezlw4y152o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtv_1eafJn4
Italian mafia (recent)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/sep/14/how-the-italian-mafia-makes-millions-from-tinned-tomatoes-video
https://medium.com/migrant-workers/tomato-slaves-b342d6a36ce8
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/tomatoes-refugees-and-modern-
slaves
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018716901/the-shocking-story-of-what-happens-to-refugees-in-italy
https://jied.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/jied.95
Tomato processing
https://www.italianfoodtech.com/canned-food-industry-tomato-processing-lines/
https://usetorg.com/blog/an-experts-take-on-sourcing-canned-tomatoes
https://www.steriltom.com/us/tomato-processing.html
USA
https://www.endslaverynow.org/blog/articles/forced-labor-in-tomato-fields-fair-food-program
https://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/academics/colleges/hclas/cld/cld-rlr-sp14-tomatoes-poulos.pdf
Tinned Tomatoes at Woolworths
- 27th December, 17 tins of Italian tinned tomatoes and 7 tins of NZ tinned tomatoes
Issues - what’s the problem?
-According to the U.S. Department of Labour (2018), tomatoes are a high risk good in terms of forced or child labour in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Paraguay. Looked into Aus, NZ, Italy in detail.
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/ListofGoods.pdf
- Migrant workers are forced into labour in Italy with unsatisfactory working conditions. These workers are commonly from areas such as West Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
They are not paid properly, often become ill, are exploited by mafia-controlled organisations, threatened with the police. (from Newsroom article)
Workers are often exploited through the “caporalato” system, where “caporali” gang masters act as intermediaries to illegally recruit workers for farmers.
https://gcap.global/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CSR-n.-1-ENG-11.12.2020.pdf
An Italian trade union, the FLAI-CGIL, says that 420,000 people “are exployed and exploited illegally in intensive agriculture throughout the country.” https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/italy-faces-rising-problem-of-modern-slavery-experts-say-demands-systemic-approach/3291672
Migrants are disproportionately affected by modern slavery as they are sometimes not covered by labour protections, and are often already vulnerable due to fleeing circumstances such as wars or natural disasters. (https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/#the-scale)
- Tomato pickers in the USA also face labour abuses through low pay. Workers are enslaved through drugs, threats, violence, and debt
Steps of the process
1. Growing and harvesting. More likely to have slave labour, depending on the country.
2. Factory processing. Most factories use technology for tomato extrusion and filling/packaging. I couldn’t find much information on factory working conditions.
- Processing is highly mechanical so we consider it low risk
Potential solutions - key recommendations
- Mechanically picked tomatoes (as used by Ceres Organics and My Food Bag). https://newsroom.co.nz/2019/10/01/are-we-buying-slave-picked-tomatoes/
- Common certifications include organic, fair trade, or non-GMO, but these do not guarantee ethical labour. Processing certifications include HACCP protocols, FDA guidelines, and ISO certifications, and DOP-certified for Italian tomatoes, but these do not guarantee ethical labour.
- In 2022 in Italy a strategy was released with a plan on trafficking, exploitation, and the caporalato system. A project aimed to inform people exposed to labour exploitation of their rights. Several actions related to housing, access to work and health services etc. https://migrant-integration.ec.europa.eu/news/italy-new-actions-prevent-trafficking-and-labour-exploitation-agriculture_en