Haribo has been accused of using slave labor from suppliers to make its candy, along with animal cruelty, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.
In a 45-minute documentary "Markencheck," or "Brand Check," by public broadcaster ARD charged that the candy maker's production oversight failures in the making of carnauba wax and animal gelatin left some of Brazil's poorest workers, and pigs in industrial farms in Germany, suffering in horrific conditions, DW said.
Carnauba wax from Brazil is used on Haribo's Gummy Bears to make them glossy and prevent them from sticking together, while pigskin is needed to make gelatin for the candy, the broadcaster stated.
The filmmakers charged that plantations that make the carnauba wax for Haribo paid workers the equivalent of $12 per day to cut down leaves down with hooked blades tied to long poles, DW stated.
The documentary claimed that workers, some underage, are forced to sleep outside or in trucks, have no access to toilets, and have to drink unfiltered water straight from nearby rivers, the broadcaster stated.
A Brazilian labor ministry official told the filmmakers that complaints about the carnauba wax industry have increased and that authorities there have discovered workers in conditions "that could be described as slavery," DW stated.
The documentary showed footage from farms that provided pig skin for meat producer Westfleisch, which processes it for Haribo's gelatin supplier Gelita, DW said. It allegedly showed pigs with open sores and abscesses living in indoor pens in their own excrement and in some cases among their own dead, in violation of German law, the broadcaster stated.
Haribo issued a statement saying the company has begun an internal investigation into the allegations, the Huffington Post reported.
"Currently we are investigating together with our first-level-suppliers the precise nature of the conditions in the plantations and farms that supply them," the statement said, per HuffPost. "Should it transpire that urgent improvements are needed in this area, we will insist on their implementation and will not rest until these improvements have been implemented."
"Furthermore, we are currently working on a prompt auditing of our suppliers. This will also include the suppliers of our direct suppliers up to single farms – which means we are even going beyond the legal framework conditions. We will keep the public updated about any progress on this matter," the statement continued.
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