A meal kit facility located in Illinois and owned by HelloFresh is currently under investigation by the US Department of Labor over allegations that there were migrant children working at the facility.
The allegations first came to light when an ABC News report claimed that at least six migrant teenagers were working night shifts at a HelloFresh facility in Aurora, Illinois, as recently as the summer of this year. In the report, the publication said some of the children had migrated from Guatemala.
"They're minors working dangerous jobs," Cristobal Cavazos, the executive director for Immigrant Solidarity, told ABC News.
It is unclear what kind of jobs were given to the minors. Officials from the US Labor Department did not provide additional details, only going so far as to confirm that the allegations are under investigation. It was also noted, however, that they are also investigating Midway Staffing, a temporary staffing agency.
How Did HelloFresh Respond?
In a statement released this week, HelloFresh said it is "deeply troubled" by the allegations and noted that it terminated its relationship with Midway Staffing after learning of the child labor complaints.
HelloFresh also emphasized that Midway was only providing staffing services for its Factor facility and claimed the company and Factor themselves did not directly hire or employ underage employees.
To put it into perspective, Factor (also known as Factor75) is a food facility that HelloFresh acquired in 2020.
Child Labor Allegations Nationwide
The allegations against the HelloFresh facility are the latest in a string of companies investigated by the US Labor Department for employing children.
In November, the department fined a cleaning company in Oklahoma over $170,000 after it hired 11 underaged children to work overnight shifts at a pork processing plant in Sioux City, Iowa, and had them use corrosive cleaners to wash equipment at the facility.
In February, the Labor Department also fined Tennessee parts supplier Tuff Torq nearly $300,000 for employing 10 children as young as 14 in dangerous jobs and subjecting them to "oppressive child labor." The company supplied parts for John Deere, Toro, and Yamaha.
