Link Uncovered Between Forced Prison Labor and Popular Food Brands, AP Reports

Link Uncovered Between Forced Prison Labor and Popular Food Brands, AP Reports

Link Uncovered, Between Forced Prison Labor , and Popular Food Brands, AP Reports.

A former slave plantation in Louisiana that is now the nation's largest maximum-security prison reportedly plays a hidden role in the U.S. food chain.

Associated Press reports that men imprisoned at the Louisiana State Penitentiary are sentenced to hard, forced labor, often for pennies an hour or nothing at all.

A two-year AP investigation revealed a hidden network that links forced, prison labor with the world's largest food manufacturers and popular brands.

A two-year AP investigation revealed a hidden network that links forced, prison labor with the world's largest food manufacturers and popular brands.

The investigation revealed that prison workers who refuse work can lose their chance for parole or face punishments that include solitary confinement.

Prison workers are also often excluded from protections granted to nearly all other full-time workers, including those regarding serious injuries or deaths on the job.

AP reports that goods produced by prisoners were found in common household products, including Frosted Flakes cereal, Ball Park hot dogs, Coca-Cola and Gold Medal flour.

AP reports that goods produced by prisoners were found in common household products, including Frosted Flakes cereal, Ball Park hot dogs, Coca-Cola and Gold Medal flour.

Products connected with prison labor can reportedly be found on major supermarket shelves, including at Kroger, Target, Aldi and Whole Foods.

The 13th Amendment of the Constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, except when it is a punishment for a crime.

The clause that permits forced prison labor has been challenged at a federal level and efforts are underway to remove similar language from state constitutions.

AP reports that some prisoners in Louisiana, with one of the highest U.S. incarceration rates, are working on the same plantation soil where slaves toiled over 150 years ago.