Buy European

Previously they claimed no slave labor for many years.

They audited their supply chain every year, but eventually found that no matter the claims of their suppliers and auditors, they were finding instances of child labor.

So they’ve updated their stance and are actively working to change the industry

Here’s an article from 2022 covering the issue

I think it used to say "as little slavery as possible" or something like that but I don't see that written out anymore, just implied.

From the inside of one I just opened:

Also

lead by example

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/

mfw

Did you also learn this information from John Oliver like me?

This is for dark chocolate only, and the article has them listed as one of the lowest lead brands. Crazy that they're all so high though, WTF!

TIL chocolate can have lead...jfc

I love Tony’s, but they’re also reportedly higher in lead content than other brands.

Yes, that is because cocoa plants absorb heavy metals from the soil. Tony probably has a higher lead content because they simply use more cocoa. That's something you can also see if you compare dark chocolate with milk chocolate - dark chocolate will have more lead because more cocoa is used.

The amount of lead is also not a biggie - you'd have to eat such an insane amount of chocolate that you'd die of the sugar intake WAY earlier than from the lead exposure.

Lead and cadmium come from cocoa plants. Tony’s might have more because it has a higher cocoa percentage

Well there's your problem, in the Netherlands (and other places) Hershey milk 'chocolate' isn't legally chocolate. It needs at least 35% cacao to be called chocolate. It would be called 'Cacao fantasy' here instead. So no wonder you think it's shit chocolate, cause it isn't chocolate to begin with

That's like saying "I didn't know I liked olives because faeces from people who have eaten olives is disgusting". Hershey's is widely hated for a reason, it shouldn't be legal to sell.

I didn't know I liked milk chocolate, because Hershey's is disgusting.

Hershey's is someone LARPing chocolate making. It's pure disgusting. How people have been eating it for so long is beyond me.

the children YEARN for the nestle mines, we NEED that chocolate

https://www.tonysopenchain.com/ Found the partners

I'll add them right now

Thanks for the tip!

I mean there is also a big difference between American brands in the US and the EU. Last time I went to the US, I brought back snickers, Twix, and KitKats. Then I bought the EU alternative and set up a double blinded taste test with my friends.

Without fail we all immediately were able to tell them apart. The American version was chalky and tasted like pure sugar. The EU version, albeit also nowhere near Tony quality and still very sweet, was much higher quality and you could taste the individual components of the candy. It was not just a sweet punch in the face.

I'm not american or european, but yeah. They don't ship here (nor any other ethical alternatives) so sadly i'm stuck with stuff like pepsico and nestle. I try to abstain as much as possible.

You guys eat american chocolate

Why not? It tastes fine. My main problem is how they use forced labor to source the cocoa; which in this case chocolonely is the exception. Even european companies (like nestle) still suffer the same issues.

Though i'm biased since as i said, we mainly only have pepsico and nestle so i don't know how "proper" chocolate in your guys's opinion tastes.

big nestle, they got angered by that "without child slavery" part 😤

I didn't downvote but I will add a note to Tony's.

First of all: I applaud their mission and every company in the world should be working without slavery of any kind.

Because Tony's is so open about their sourcing and making a big deal about being 100% slave free, they are an easy target for organizations checking their claims. There have been a couple of moments in time where Tony's has been challenged, the most recent one being 2021, where they have been removed from the list of ethical chocolate companies by the American company Slave Free Chocolate, because they collaborated with Barry Callebaut.

Now, to expand on 'collaboration', here: Tony's buys their cocoa very transparently, from farmers who do not employ children, paid or otherwise. Then, to process this cocoa they need an efficient factory and they use one in Antwerp, Belgium. This factory also processes the cocoa from Barry Callebaut.

Tony's doesn't really care, of course, about being taken off the list by this company. They know they are ethical enough by their own measure, which is still leagues ahead of most.

Source in Dutch.

The point here being that one might read one headline or the other, refuse to go into any depth and form their opinion. Now any time they read Tony's all they remember is 'they are not as holy as they make themselves out to be'. Hence they'll just downvote this any time they glance over it.

Or it might be Big Chocolate, idk.