Sugar coated lies: unmasking the exploitation lurking in every scoop

A New York Times investigation has uncovered the secret ingredient in your Ben & Jerry’s ice cream — modern slavery. DNYUZ reports that Bonsucro, the company which sets the industry standard for sugar production, certified the mills that supply brands such as Unilever and Coca-Cola. However, the investigation revealed that Bonsucro’s audits are flawed, allowing mills to hide abusive labor practices, including debt bondage, child labor, and coerced hysterectomies among female workers.

Forced into child marriage

Interviews revealed women in Maharashtra cutting sugar cane for these mills endure brutal conditions. These women are often forced into underage marriages so that they can cut sugar with their husbands. They are also pressured by contractors to get hysterectomies to eliminate common ailments like painful periods. And as if undergoing invasive surgery isn’t enough, procuring the money for these surgeries often leads to debt bondage by contractors.

Anita Bhaisahab Waghmare, a sugar cane cutter in her 40s who has worked since she was 13 for a contractor of the Bonsucro-certified Dalmia mill, said:

“My working conditions in the sugar cane fields led me to have a hysterectomy,”

Despite these issues, both the Dalmia and NSL mills in the state of Maharashtra received or are in the process of being certified by Bonsucro. So, what gives?

Contracted Bonsucro auditors say they don’t get many chances to speak to workers. Interviews and internal documents reveal that factory executives tightly control the inspection process. Auditors often rely on farm lists provided by mill executives, raising concerns about selective auditing. Bonsucro’s CEO, Danielle Morley, acknowledged the flaws, calling the practice of handpicking farms “problematic.”

No one is responsible?

Despite learning of labor violations, Bonsucro did not to sever ties with Dalmia and NSL. CEO Danielle Morley acknowledged the issues but argued that Bonsucro alone cannot fix the region’s deep-rooted social and economic problems. Dalmia and NSL executives deny direct responsibility, claiming they neither employ the laborers nor control field conditions. Contractors shift the blame to factories, while major sugar buyers say monitoring farms is difficult. As a result, consumers remain largely unaware of the origins of the sugar in their products.

In 2018, Bonsucro hired a Columbia University team to evaluate its effectiveness, focusing on India. The researchers faced similar obstacles as the auditors, with mill owners restricting their access to fields and workers, thereby preventing a thorough investigation of the conditions faced by laborers. A subsequent local government report in 2019 revealed widespread abuses among female sugar cane workers, including child labor, debt bondage, and gender discrimination.

Priya Patil, an auditor who worked as an interpreter said:

“They planned it very strategically to make sure we did not reach the farmers directly,”…“There were moments where I felt like, ‘This isn’t the real scenario.”

This investigation raises questions about the effectiveness of social auditing and whether such certifications only exist to appease powerful corporations. In India, the complexities of certifying sugar mills due to sourcing from thousands of farms, make comprehensive audits nearly impossible. Consequently, severe labor violations persist within the supply chain, undermining the credibility of the certification process and leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation.

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