Meal kit company HelloFresh is under investigation by federal regulators for alleged child labor violations at an Aurora, Illinois, food production and distribution facility.
ABC News first reported on the investigation, citing immigrant rights advocate Cristobal Cavazos of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, who told the news source that at least six teenagers, some of them migrants from Guatemala, worked night shifts at the facility.
Immigrant Solidarity helped report the alleged violations to regulators, according to ABC. The Aurora plant is a production and distribution facility for HelloFresh’s Factor75 brand, according to the company. HelloFresh acquired Factor75, a ready-to-eat meal company, in 2020.
On Monday, U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson Scott Allen confirmed the agency’s wage and hour division is investigating the HelloFresh facility in Aurora as well as the staffing agency Midway Staffing. Allen said the agency would not provide more details about the investigation while it is ongoing.
HelloFresh said 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.”
The company said it had “strict protocols in place” to ensure its vendors follow its ethics and compliance policies.
“We have zero tolerance for any form of child labor, and we have taken action to ensure no minors perform work in or have access to our facilities,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson declined to detail any specific steps the company had taken.
In a statement, Midway Staffing CEO RJ Parrilli said the company is cooperating with the Labor Department on the investigation.
“Midway Staffing has provided the Department with all payroll, time and personnel data the Department has requested related to workers it placed at certain Illinois facilities operated by HelloFresh,” Parrilli said.
“Midway Staffing denies that its actions or practices contributed to or caused any alleged child labor violations,” Parrilli said, adding that the agency “refuses to knowingly hire anyone who is not at least 18 years of age.”
Berlin-based HelloFresh, which also has Factor75 facilities in Lake Zurich and Burr Ridge, is not the only food firm to face scrutiny over allegations of child labor in Illinois.
Last week, Hearthside Food Solutions, a contract food manufacturer based in Downers Grove, agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a child labor investigation by the state’s Labor Department and attorney general’s office. A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor into the company is still open, a department spokesperson told the Tribune Friday.
Hearthside, which produces fresh, frozen and packaged foods for other food companies, was one of the subjects of a sweeping investigation into migrant child labor published in The New York Times last year.
Hearthside did not admit wrongdoing as part of its settlement in Illinois, which must be approved by a bankruptcy judge in Texas because the company recently filed for bankruptcy, and continues to deny violating any child labor laws.
The company has also described the allegations as being “principally connected” to third-party staffing agencies and said it has since reduced the number of such agencies it works with.
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