Child trafficking
In 2005, the International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against Cargill, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland in a US federal court on behalf of children who said they were trafficked as child slaves from Mali into Côte d'Ivoire and forced to work on cocoa bean plantations 12 to 14 hours a day with no pay, little food and sleep, and frequent physical abuse.[62]
Even more recent evidence stems from a 2019 TV program on French channel France 2 about cocoa illegally harvested from protected areas in Côte d'Ivoire.[63] The report found child slave labor to be widespread on the plantations investigated: every third worker was a child. Instances of child trafficking from neighboring Burkina Faso were also reported. Cargill, which buys from the plantations under investigation, initially denied buying cocoa from protected areas but was forced to admit that its traceability system had not reached these areas and therefore could not fully trace the origins of its cocoa. Swiss-based food giant Nestlé is one of Cargill's biggest customers of cocoa sourced from Côte d'Ivoire, as later reported by Swiss TV channel RTS 1.[64]
In 2021, eight formerly enslaved children from Mali named Cargill in a class action lawsuit, alleging that it aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire. The suit accused Cargill, along with Nestlé, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Incorporated, Olam International, The Hershey Company, and Mondelez International, of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.[65]
Child labor
Cargill was a major buyer of cotton in Uzbekistan, despite the industry's prevalence of uncompensated workers and possible human rights abuses, and admissions by two representatives that the company is aware of child labor in the production of its crops. Their concerns have been public since 2005.[66]
In December 2010, an international complaint in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom was filed against Cargill for knowingly profiting from child labor in Uzbekistan. The complaint alleged that children were forced out of their schools to assist with cotton harvesting, for which their families saw no profits. Individual agreements were made with each of the filing countries, though by 2013 a follow-up evaluation showed that Cargill lessened its commitment after media coverage passed.[67]
In September 2023, Cargill was fined the equivalent of $120,185 by a Brazilian court for its use of child labor in cocoa harvesting.[68]
Union busting
In February 2018, several employees of Cargill's Dayton, Virginia plant held protests, including an organized strike outside of a Cargill plant in the city. Their grievances included poor health benefits, poor working conditions, and Cargill's alleged firing of employees who organized to form a union.[69] The protests led to the arrests of nine people for trespassing on company property.[70]
In August 2018, Cargill faced legal accusations in Turkey for allegedly firing fourteen union members without justifiable reason. Cargill denied the allegations, until the final rulings in late 2019 and early 2020 stated that at least eight of the former employees were fired only because of their ties to the union, while four of the remaining were also unfairly dismissed. Cargill was ordered to pay additional severance to each of these workers.[71]
Wage-fixing
In 2024, Cargill paid $30 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging collusion with other beef producers to suppress wages at meatpacking plants. Alongside JBS Foods, Tyson, and National Beef, Cargill is considered to be one of the nation's largest meat processors, constituting over 85% of U.S. beef production. Law firm Hagens Berman claimed that "Cargill and other meat companies shared compensation data through third parties and 'secret meetings' over several years to hold wages and benefits at artificially low levels." Cargill denied the allegations in a company statement, attributing their settlement decision "to avoid[ing] larger litigation costs and distractions from the critical work our production teams do."[72]
Worker safety during COVID-19
During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, a single meat processing plant in High River, Canada, was linked to over 358 cases[73] of infection. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Union Local 401 president Thomas Hesse said, "It's a tragedy. We asked days and days ago for that plant to be closed temporarily for two weeks, send all of the workers home with pay to isolate. That was when we were aware of 38 cases. That was before they set up a dedicated testing facility in the area." Reports of employees being denied personal protective equipment also surfaced around the same period.[74] As of May 3, 2020, 917 of the plant's 2,000 workers had tested positive, and the plant was linked to 1,501 total cases.[75]
Land grabbing
The NGO Oxfam has documented an illustrative case of land grabbing. Between 2010 and 2012, Cargill brought large areas of land in Colombia under its control despite legal restrictions on acquiring state land. To accomplish this, Cargill established at least 36 mailbox companies, enabling it to exceed the legally prescribed maximum landholding size. With more than 50,000 hectares of land, Cargill acquired more than 30 times the legally permitted limit for a single owner.[76][77]
Food contamination
In 1971, Cargill sold 63,000 tons of seed treated with a methylmercury-based fungicide that, when eaten, eventually caused at least 650 deaths. The fumigated seed grain was provided by Cargill at the specific request of Saddam Hussein[78] and was never intended for direct human or animal consumption before planting.[79]
Cargill's grain—which was dyed red and labeled with warnings in Spanish and English as well as a skull and crossbones design following a previous incident of mercury-treated seed being sold as food in Iraqi markets in 1960—was distributed too late for much of the 1971 planting season, causing many farmers to sell their excess product in the public markets at very low prices; this attracted many poor Iraqis who either could not understand the warnings or disregarded them, causing thousands of cases of mercury poisoning.[80] The long latency period before developing symptoms and cattle's greater tolerance of mercury poisoning also contributed to the mistaken impression that the surplus seed grain was safe to eat.[78]
Deforestation
Soy
In 2003, Cargill completed a port for processing soya in Santarém in the Amazon region of Brazil, dramatically increasing soya production in the area and, according to Greenpeace, speeding up deforestation of local rain forest.[86] In February 2006, the federal courts in Brazil gave Cargill six months to complete an environmental assessment. Initially supported by job-seeking locals, the port faced public opposition as jobs failed to materialize. In July 2006, the federal prosecutor indicated they were close to shutting down the port.[87]
Greenpeace took its campaign to major food retailers and quickly won agreement from McDonald's and UK retailers Asda, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer to stop buying meat raised on Amazonian soya.
Soy
In 2003, Cargill completed a port for processing soya in Santarém in the Amazon region of Brazil, dramatically increasing soya production in the area and, according to Greenpeace, speeding up deforestation of local rain forest.[86] In February 2006, the federal courts in Brazil gave Cargill six months to complete an environmental assessment. Initially supported by job-seeking locals, the port faced public opposition as jobs failed to materialize. In July 2006, the federal prosecutor indicated they were close to shutting down the port.[87]
Greenpeace took its campaign to major food retailers and quickly won agreement from McDonald's and UK retailers Asda, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer to stop buying meat raised on Amazonian soya. These retailers have, in turn, put pressure on Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, André Maggi Group, and
Palm oil
Cargill sells large volumes of palm oil, which is found in many processed foods, cosmetics, and detergents. Most palm oil is obtained from plantations in Sumatra and Borneo, which have been heavily deforested to make way for them.[91]
Cocoa
On September 13, 2017, NGO Mighty Earth released a report[92] documenting findings that Cargill purchases cocoa grown illegally in national parks and other protected forests in the Ivory Coast.
The report accused Cargill of endangering the forest habitats of chimpanzees, elephants, and other wildlife populations by purchasing cocoa linked to deforestation.[93][94][95] As a result of cocoa production, 7 of the 23 Ivorian protected areas have been almost entirely converted to cocoa.[96] Cargill was notified of the findings of Mighty Earth's investigation and did not deny that the company sourced its cocoa from protected areas in the Ivory Coast.
Data released in April 2019 by Global Forest Watch,[97]
Air pollution
In 2005, the company settled with the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency over Clean Air Act violations, including a plan to invest over $60 million in capital improvements for clean air controls, after a joint federal and state effort that included Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Ohio.[98]
In 2006, NatureWorks, a subsidiary in Nebraska, settled with the state over inadequate air pollution controls.[99]
In 2015, Cargill settled with the EPA over Clean Air Act violations in a plant in Iowa.[100]
Tax evasion
In 2011, a case of transfer mispricing came to light in Argentina involving the world's four largest grain traders: ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and LDC. Argentina's revenue and customs service began an investigation into the four companies when agricultural commodity prices spiked in 2008, but very little profit had been reported to the office. As a result of the investigation, it was alleged that the companies had submitted false sales declarations and routed profits through tax havens or to their headquarters. In some cases, they were said to have used dummy corporations to buy grain and to inflate costs in Argentina to reduce recorded profits there.[101] According to Argentina's revenue and customs service, the outstanding taxes amounted to almost US$1 billion.[102] The companies involved have denied the allegations. As of 2019, the Argentinian tax authorities have not replied to Swiss NGO Public Eye’s request as to the state of the case.[103]
In its 2018 annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bunge mentioned provisions that suggested the case was still ongoing.
Animal welfare
In 2015, Cargill announced it would phase out gestation crates for its sows by 2017, reportedly in response to pressure from clients and consumers.[107]
In 2022, an inspection into a Dayton turkey factory revealed infractions against the Poultry Products Inspection Act, an act intended to minimize suffering to poultry animals. In contrast to the requirements of this act, Cargill allow turkeys to die from asphyxiation without first being stunned or slaughtered.[108]
Antibiotic usage
In 2024, the USDA reported that Cargill was administering human-grade antibiotics to its cattle, despite labelling the beef products as "raised without antibiotics," a breach of truth-in-advertising/labeling standards.[109] The Bureau of Investigative Journalism then reported that the antibiotics covertly given by Cargill to its cattle were human-use, meaning they would significantly contribute to human population antibiotic resistance, a source of human suffering prioritized by the UN.[110][111]
Price fixing
In 2024, McDonald's Corporation sued JBS, National Beef, Cargill, and Tyson, along with their subsidiaries, for alleged price fixing.[112] In 2026, both Cargill and Tyson settled, agreeing to pay $87.5 million.[113]
