UK supermarkets stocked Italian tomato purées that may be linked to forced labour in China, a new BBC investigation has found.
The tomato concentrates sold by several big grocers, including Tesco, Asda and Waitrose, claimed to be “Italian”. However, testing commissioned by the BBC World Service showed they contained traces of tomatoes produced in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, where production was linked to forced labour by Uyghur and other Muslim minorities.
A total of 17 products, such as Tesco’s “Italian Tomato Purée”, Asda’s double concentrate tomato paste (which says it contains “Puréed Italian grown tomatoes”), Waitrose’s “Essential Tomato Purée” and Morrisons’ own-label tomato purée, were “likely to contain Chinese tomatoes”, the BBC found.
The broadcaster spoke to different workers in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, who claimed they were forced to work long hours on the tomato fields. They described witnessing or falling victim to physical violence including beatings and electric shocks if they didn’t meet the picking quotas.
Several told reporters that the tomatoes grown and picked there were exported overseas.
The BBC Eye investigation also traced shipments from Xinjiang, China’s northwestern region, which produces one third of the world’s tomatoes, all the way to Italy.
It then found evidence that manufacturer Antonio Petti – part of a group of major tomato processing firms in Italy, which supplies tomato goods to supermarkets across Europe to be sold under their own-brand labels – was a common recipient of those Chinese tomatoes.
Read more: Forced labour in food supply chains on the rise, charity data shows
An undercover encounter reportedly led to a Petti director confirming it used Chinese tomatoes in its products. There was also video evidence of a 2023 order still held in one of its factories.
The BBC then found links between those tomatoes supplied to Petti by Xinjiang companies with alleged links to forced labour. One, Xinjiang Guannong, has been banned in the US for forced labour since 2020.
In response to the investigation, Petti claimed it did not import tomatoes from companies known to engage in forced labour. It added: “In future we will not import tomato products from China and will enhance our monitoring of suppliers to ensure compliance with human and workers’ rights.”
All the supermarkets involved told the BBC they “took these allegations very seriously and have carried out internal investigations which found no evidence of Chinese tomatoes”. Many had also disputed the testing methodology used by its experts, the BBC said.
Tesco reportedly suspended supply and German retailer Rewe immediately withdrew the products.
Waitrose, Morrisons, Edeka and Rewe told the BBC they had run their own tests, and that the results contradicted the reporters’ and did not show the presence of Chinese tomatoes in the products.
The new investigation comes three years after supermarkets told the UK Parliament that they had stopped using products from Xinjiang, which is known as Uyghur territory.
The UN has previously accused China of torturing and abusing largely Muslim minorities there, after the Asian nation launched a programme of mass detentions in 2017.
Human rights groups claim more than a million Uyghurs have been detained in hundreds of so-called “re-education camps”, which they say are ridden with coerced labour and abuse.
Anti-Slavery International head of thematic advocacy programmes, Chloe Cranston, who is featured in the BBC documentary, said: “Nobody should be persecuted and forced to work against their will by a company or their government.
“But once again, we are presented with credible evidence suggesting that major retailers are failing to address human rights abuses in the supply chains of everyday products.”
Read more: Food and drink companies ‘failing’ to tackle labour abuse risks
While the US has introduced strict legislation to ban all Xinjiang exports, the UK and Europe have a less strict approach, allowing companies to self-regulate and do their own due diligence to ensure forced labour is not used in supply chains.
Anti-Slavery International says the Modern Slavery Act does not go far enough to compel UK companies to conduct robust human rights due diligence on their supply chains and act when abuses are uncovered, or even bans the import of goods made using forced labour.
Britain therefore risks becoming a “dumping ground for goods made using forced labour”, it argued.
“The UK government knows we need stronger laws to tackle modern slavery”, Cranston said. “And it’s time for it to act. It’s never been clearer that the Modern Slavery Act isn’t fit for purpose, and I urge ministers to introduce robust new legislation as a matter of urgency.”
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