UK Supermarkets’ ‘Italian’ Tomato Purees Implicated in Chinese Forced Labor Allegations

The BBC has reported that certain “Italian” tomato purees available in various UK supermarkets seemingly incorporate tomatoes cultivated and harvested in China through forced labor. These products include items with “Italian” in their branding, like Tesco’s “Italian Tomato Purée”. Additionally, others feature “Italian” in their descriptions, such as Asda’s double concentrate, which states it contains “Puréed Italian grown tomatoes”, and Waitrose’s “Essential Tomato Purée”, which labels itself as “Italian tomato puree”. According to testing commissioned by the BBC World Service, a total of 17 products, predominantly own-brand items retailed in the UK and Germany, are suspected of containing Chinese tomatoes. The majority of Chinese tomatoes originate from the Xinjiang region, where their cultivation is associated with forced labor involving Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minority groups. The UN has accused the Chinese state, which considers these minorities a security threat, of torture and abuse. China refutes claims of compelling individuals to work in the tomato sector, asserting that workers’ rights are legally safeguarded. It also contends that the UN report relies on “disinformation and lies”. All supermarkets whose products were subjected to testing have contested these findings. China accounts for approximately one-third of global tomato production. The north-western region of Xinjiang offers an ideal climate for cultivating the fruit. This region is also where China initiated a mass detention program in 2017. Human rights organizations claim that over a million Uyghurs have been held in hundreds of facilities, which China refers to as “re-education camps”. The BBC has interviewed 14 individuals who report experiencing or observing forced labor in Xinjiang’s tomato fields during the last 16 years. Ahmed (not his real name) stated, “[The prison authorities] told us the tomatoes would be exported overseas,” and further mentioned that failure to meet daily quotas, which could be as high as 650kg, resulted in workers being shocked with electric prods. Mamutjan, a Uyghur teacher incarcerated in 2015 due to an irregularity in his travel documentation, claims he was beaten for not fulfilling the demanding tomato quotas. He recounted, “In a dark prison cell, there were chains hanging from the ceiling. They hung me up there and said ‘Why can’t you finish the job?’ They beat my buttocks really hard, hit me in the ribs. I still have marks.” While these accounts are challenging to independently verify, they exhibit consistency and align with evidence presented in a 2022 UN report detailing torture and forced labor in Xinjiang detention centers. Collaborating with the non-profit organization C4ADS, the BBC assembled global shipping data to uncover the primary route for Xinjiang tomatoes into Europe: via train through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and into Georgia, followed by onward shipment to Italy. The name of one company, Antonio Petti, a component of a prominent group of Italian tomato-processing firms, frequently emerged as a recipient in the data. Records indicate that it received over 36 million kg of tomato paste from Xinjiang Guannong and its subsidiaries between 2020 and 2023. The Petti group manufactures tomato products under its proprietary brand, and also provides supplies to other supermarkets throughout Europe, which then market these as their own-branded items. The investigation involved testing 64 distinct tomato purees retailed in the UK, Germany, and the US, conducting laboratory comparisons with samples from China and Italy. The tested products encompassed leading Italian brands and supermarket own-brands, with many originating from Petti. Source Certain, an Australian-based, globally recognized origin verification firm, was enlisted to ascertain the accuracy of the origin claims on the purees’ labels. The company initiated its process by developing what CEO Cameron Scadding terms a “fingerprint,” distinct to each country of origin, through the analysis of trace elements absorbed by tomatoes from local water and rocks. Scadding stated, “The first objective for us was to establish what the underlying trace element profile would look like for China, and [what] a likely profile would look like for Italy. We found they were very distinct.” Source Certain subsequently compared these country profiles with the 64 tomato purees selected for testing, most of which either asserted an Italian origin or implied it, alongside a few that made no origin claim. The laboratory findings indicated that numerous products did, in fact, contain Italian tomatoes. This included all items sold in the US, leading Italian brands such as Mutti and Napolina, and certain German and UK supermarket own-brands, including those retailed by Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer. However, 17 products appeared to contain Chinese tomatoes, with 10 of these manufactured by Petti, the Italian company frequently identified in international shipping records. Among the 10 products produced by Petti, the following were available for purchase in UK supermarkets during the testing period of April-August 2024: These were for sale in German supermarkets, during the testing period: In their statements, all the supermarkets affirmed that they regarded these allegations with utmost seriousness and had conducted internal investigations that yielded no evidence of Chinese tomatoes. Furthermore, many have challenged the testing methodology employed by the experts. Tesco halted supplies, and Rewe promptly removed the products. Waitrose, Morrisons, Edeka, and Rewe reported conducting their own tests, stating that their results contradicted the BBC’s findings and did not indicate the presence of Chinese tomatoes in their products. Nevertheless, one prominent retailer has acknowledged using Chinese tomatoes. Lidl informed the BBC that these were present in a different version of its Baresa Tomatenmark, produced by the Italian supplier Giaguaro, which was sold in Germany “for a short time” last year due to supply chain issues, and that they are currently investigating the matter. Giaguaro asserted that all its suppliers adhere to workers’ rights and that it is not currently utilizing Chinese tomatoes in Lidl products. The BBC has learned that the tomatoes were provided by the Xinjiang firm Cofco Tunhe, which the US sanctioned in December of the previous year for forced labor. In 2021, Italian military police conducted a raid on one of the Petti group’s factories on suspicion of fraud. Italian media outlets reported that Chinese and other foreign tomatoes were allegedly misrepresented as Italian. However, the case was resolved out of court a year subsequent to the raid. Petti refuted the claims concerning Chinese tomatoes, and the matter was dismissed. During the investigation into Petti, a BBC undercover reporter, posing as a businessman interested in placing a substantial order with the firm, was invited to tour a company factory in Tuscany by Pasquale Petti, the General Manager of Italian Food, a division of the Petti group. The reporter inquired whether Petti utilized Chinese tomatoes. He responded, “Yes… In Europe no-one wants Chinese tomatoes. But if for you it’s OK, we will find a way to produce the best price possible, even using Chinese tomatoes.” The reporter’s concealed camera additionally recorded a significant detail: a dozen blue barrels of tomato paste arranged inside the factory. A label visible on one barrel stated: “Xinjiang Guannong Tomato Products Co Ltd, prod date 2023-08-20.” In its reply to the investigation, the Petti group informed the BBC