The BBC witnessed children picking jasmine in Egypt, a major exporter of the flowers’ oil.

Children have picked ingredients used by suppliers to two major beauty companies, the BBC can reveal.

A BBC investigation into last summer’s perfume supply chains found jasmine used by Lancôme and Aerin Beauty’s suppliers was picked by minors.

All the luxury perfume brands claim to have zero tolerance on child labour.

L’Oréal, Lancôme’s owner, said it was committed to respecting human rights. Estée Lauder, Aerin Beauty’s owner, said it had contacted its suppliers.

The jasmine used in Lancôme Idôle L’Intense - and Ikat Jasmine and Limone Di Sicilia for Aerin Beauty - comes from Egypt, which produces about half the world’s supply of jasmine flowers - a key perfume ingredient.

Industry insiders told us the handful of companies that own many luxury brands are squeezing budgets, resulting in very low pay. Egyptian jasmine pickers say this forces them to involve their children.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    I don’t want to be fatalistic, but I honestly do not know how consumers would realistically be able remove child labor from the global supply chain. I don’t think companies are even able to do that. Because it’s not necessarily them doing the child labor, it’s the people who sell the stuff that is made to sell to another company which assembles it to the final company which can credibly say it doesn’t use child labor because it’s two steps from that. How do you fix that?