Meal kit company HelloFresh is being investigated by the U.S. Dept. Labor for allegedly using underage children at its Aurora, Ill., food production and distribution facility. The workers may have come from a third-party staffing agency.
A number of local media reported at least six teenagers, some of them migrants from Guatemala, worked night shifts at the facility. That facility used Midway Staffing to provide some labor.
A local agency for immigrant rights, Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, apparently reported the alleged violations to regulators. The Aurora plant is a production and distribution facility for HelloFresh’s Factor75 brand, a ready-to-eat meal company Hello Fresh acquired in 2020, according to the Chicago Tribune.
HelloFresh told the Tribune it no longer works with the staffing agency. “We were deeply troubled to learn of the allegations made against a former temporary staffing agency, Midway Staffing,” a HelloFresh spokesperson said in a statement. “As soon as we learned of these allegations, we immediately terminated the relationship.”
Midway Staffing said it’s cooperating with the Labor Department on the investigation and noted it “refuses to knowingly hire anyone who is not at least 18 years of age,” according to the Tribune.
A significant number of food processors, especially in the meat & poultry category, have been accused of child labor in the past two years – although many blamed the abuses on third-party staffing agencies. Many have paid fines or settlements to the Dept. of Labor.
This Nov. 22, contract manufacturer Hearthside Food Solutions cited its $4.5 million settlement with the Illinois Labor Department over child labor as a small reason it filed for bankruptcy protection until it reorganizes. Hearthside, too, cited third-party staffing agencies as the cause.