According to Deutsche Welle, the much-loved German confectioner Haribo has come under intense criticism after a documentary discovered cruel conditions in the manufacture of a key ingredient in Brazil. Pigs also suffer in the making of gelatin.
Germany’s global candymaker Haribo was forced on the defensive on Thursday, October 19 after a documentary by public broadcaster ARD revealed horrifying conditions for both the animals and humans responsible for the manufacture of key ingredients of the much-loved gummy bears and other Haribo products.
The 45-minute documentary Markencheck (“brand check”) examined both the health and production issues of Haribo products, which are sold all over the world, and found failures of oversight in the production of carnauba wax and animal gelatin that left some of Brazil’s poorest workers, and pigs in industrial farms in Germany, suffering in horrific conditions.
The filmmakers found Haribo was sourcing its carnauba wax from plantations where workers earning 40 Real ($12, €10) a day have to cut the leaves down with hooked blades tied to long poles, are forced to sleep outside or in trucks, have no access to toilets and have to drink unfiltered water straight from nearby rivers. Some of the workers are also underage.