Informing Policy: VOC breaks China’s forced-labor supply chain

Thanks to VOC’s research and impact strategy there was a market collapse in China’s tomato sales to Italy. Last December, VOC released peer-reviewed research that exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of forced labor in Xinjiang Province’s tomato, pepper, marigold, and stevia industries. The report uncovered a network that tied these products to 72 major global companies, including Kraft, Heinz, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever, and L’Oréal.

Investigators identified Italy as the main entry point that funneled Xinjiang goods into European markets disguised as “Italian” products.

A year-long collaboration with the BBC produced a 90-minute documentary titled “Blood on the Shelves.” It traced the entire supply chain from Xinjiang to Central Asia to Italian processing plants. Lab tests on 17 supermarket items confirmed Chinese origin despite labels that claimed otherwise. Moreover, 14 survivors shared their stories of confinement and coerced labor. VOC’s Dr. Adrian Zenz published an op-ed in The Hill entitled “Is that slavery on your pasta?” which translated the findings for a mass audience, emphasizing Italy’s role as a conduit and exposing shell company tactics. The impact was immediate. Fourteen members of the UK Parliament demanded answers from retailers. Companies grew fearful of scandal as the evidence tightened around Italian processors. Beijing even held an emergency press conference to counter the revelations.

By November 2025 the market collapsed. The Financial Times reported a stunning downturn:
— Italy’s imports of Chinese tomato paste crashed by 76%, dropping from $75 million to $13 million.
— Western Europe saw sales fall by 67%.
— China cut production by 66%, from 11 million tons to just 3.7 million.
— Between 600,000-700,000 tons of Chinese tomato paste now sits unsold. That is six months of global exports frozen by the truth.

This happened without new legislation. Public exposure and reputational pressure alone broke a major supply chain worth hundreds of millions. This is the first agricultural breakthrough of its kind. This is not really about tomatoes and tomato paste. It is about the men, women, and children forced into slave labor processing tomatoes by the CCP.

For press inquiries, please contact Michal Harmata at  michal.harmata@victimsofcommunism.org or (202) 629-9500.