Chocolate is made from cocoa, much of which comes from farms in developing countries.
Cocoa and sugar are both crops which have been associated with high numbers of forced or child labour, some even associated with human trafficking.
However, some companies are helping to reduce the use of child labour by purchasing their cocoa from farms or wholesalers certified by outside organizations to ensure fair trade practices and some include environmental practices as well.
World Vision is working on a campaign to bring awareness to this global problem by attempting to educate consumers of chocolate on what to look for when purchasing chocolate to help ensure you are not supporting child labour.
According to their site, at any moment, over two million children are working at dangerous jobs in and around cocoa farms.
While many Europena chocolate manufacturers had signed onto an agreement to only purchase ethical cocoa from verified sources, North American chocolate manufacturers have not all followed suit.
The World Vision site at: nochildforsale.ca/ethical_chocolate/ helps consumers understand what symbols to look for to ensure the chocolate they are enjoying did not help support child labour.
More and more companies are becoming fair trade certified, with Cadbury being a major North American brand with certification now on some of their products.