Halloween has certainly changed over the years, what used to be a fun family night with kids visiting the neighbours to get a candied apple or some homemade fudge, has been completely hijacked by the North American candy companies. Now the scariest thing about Halloween is the genetically modified ingredients, pesticides and unfair labour practices that go into the Halloween candy that unsuspecting parents are feeding their kids. North Americans spend more than $6.5 billion dollars on Halloween; and the largest expenditure is for Halloween candy.
Frankenfood
Most candy and chocolate Halloween products contain corn and/or soy products (read the labels), unfortunately more than 85% of the soy crop and 60% of the corn crop are genetically modified in North America. In fact, Roundup Ready Soybeans account for 90% of all the soybeans grown in the USA. These soybeans, manufactured by biotech giant Monsanto, are genetically engineered to resist the pesticide Roundup (the world’s best selling herbicide – also owned by Monsanto). Parents will be hard pressed to find one conventional Halloween candy or chocolate that doesn’t contain soy or corn based ingredients.
More than 85% of the soy crop and 60% of the corn crop are genetically modified in North America.
Bovine Growth Hormone
Soy and corn aren’t the only way genetically modified ingredients get into your kids’ Halloween candy. In the USA, diary cows are injected with the controversial Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), a transgenetic hormone designed to increase milk yield. Some studies have demonstrated the milk from rBGH injected cows results in an increase in pus in the milk, (from infections), antibiotics (used to treat infections), and higher levels of the hormone IGF-1 (a factor in various cancers). Even though Canada and the European Union have banned rBGH, and many American schools are also trying to eliminate it from their cafeterias, if your Halloween candy contains American milk, it may well contain rBGH.
Many children working on cocoa farms never eat a chocolate bar in their lifetimes.
Pesticides
Unless labelled organic, much of the candy ingredients your children are consuming at Halloween are grown with pesticides. Although global figures are hard to come by, industry reports suggest an estimated 1.5 - 2.5 million tons of pesticides are used annually. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that infants and children may be especially sensitive to health risks posed by pesticide because their internal organs are still developing and maturing and in relation to their body weight, infants and children eat and drink more than adults, possibly increasing their exposure to pesticides in food and water.
Slave Labour Chocolate
Much of the worlds’ major chocolate ingredients are grown in developing nations by poor farmers. 70% of the world’s cocoa production is grown in West Africa, with the Ivory Coast producing 40% of the world’s estimated 6.5 billion pound crop of cocoa beans.
The $13 billion chocolate industry is heavily consolidated with two major American firms — Hershey's and M&M/Mars (check your Halloween candy wrappers)— controlling two-thirds of the American chocolate candy market. Global Exchange, a global human rights’ organization, believes American chocolate manufacturers have deflected responsibility for the conditions on cocoa plantations by citing their own lack of ownership of these plantations.
The International Labor Rights’ Fund (ILRF) reports that much of the world’s cocoa production includes child labor and starvation level wages for farmers. ILRF reports children work long hours, face frequent exposure to pesticides and child labor slaves face physical beatings and other cruel treatment. Many children working on cocoa farms never eat a chocolate bar in their lifetimes.
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