Image: dpa
Before Easter, the human rights organization Südwind and the environmental protection organization Global 2000 again checked the range of chocolate Easter bunnies for their ecological and social compatibility. Out of 33 products, six Easter bunnies were given the best double-green rating (2022: four), ten did not have a single seal and instead received the double-red negative rating, as stated in a broadcast on Tuesday.
The six test winners are the “EZA Chocolate Bunny” from the world shops, the “Vegan organic Easter bunny” (Spar), the “Natur*pur organic Easter bunny” (Spar), the “Billa organic Easter bunny” (Billa), “Bio Natura chocolate bunny” (Hofer) and the “Bar Easter bunny in tinfoil (den’s organic market)“. All six carry both the EU organic seal and a Fairtrade seal of approval.
For the first time, the chocolate Easter bunny check also shows the entire range of vegan chocolate bunnies. For this purpose, only one standard bunny and the vegan variant – if available – were examined per brand. Of the seven vegan chocolate bunnies, five have strict certification, one was awarded double green and only one vegan product ended up in the double red segment.
Most of the cocoa beans that Austrian companies buy come from Ghana and the Ivory Coast. According to the NGOs, child labor and forced labor are major problems in both countries, as is extremely low income for cocoa farmers. The often high level of pesticides used in cocoa cultivation makes things even more difficult. Martin Wildenberg, sustainability expert from Global 2000: “Thanks to the organic certification, the customer can be sure that chemical pesticides and fertilizers have been dispensed with – both with the cocoa and with the other ingredients such as milk”.
According to the organizations, there are problems with the industry giants, as they prefer to rely on their own sustainability programs. Although this can bring potentially positive aspects, the concrete effect is difficult to assess and hardly comparable. “In many cases, the specific policies behind the company’s programs are not published and often not independently controlled in cooperation with unions and NGOs,” it said.
Source: Nachrichten
