We hear a lot about the working conditions at Foxconn, the Taiwan-based manufacturing company that makes many of the world’s favorite electronic devices (including the iPhone) and is China’s largest private employer. But while the company is usually in the news because of disputes with workers or issues with its production capacity, today we’ve got a new one: instant noodles.
According to Taiwan’s Apple Daily, Foxconn’s corporate headquarters in Taiwan issued a directive yesterday ordering all of its plants in Taiwan and on the mainland to remove Master Kong brand products from their shelves, as well as all other food products produced by the Ting Hsin International Group. The company’s ostensible reason for the ban is to protect worker health, and it follows recent revelations that the company has used lard meant for animal feed in its foods.
At Foxconn, workers will not be prevented from eating Master Kong instant noodles if they can acquire them elsewhere, but the noodles are being removed from all of the shops and convenience stores on Foxconn’s campuses in China and Taiwan.
The boycott could actually put a serious dent into Ting Hsin’s business, as Foxconn employs about 1.5 million people in China. Instant noodles are a popular meal with Foxconn’s young worker demographic because they’re inexpensive and easy to prepare. And there are plenty of other brands with comparable tastes and prices available, so there would be little reason for workers to bother going off-campus just to track down Master Kong or any of Ting Hsin’s other snack brands.
It’ll be interesting to see how long the boycott lasts, but for now, you can rest assured: the workers who made your iPhone probably aren’t eating any Master Kong noodles. Given the gross revelations about the oil Ting Hsin apparently uses, that’s probably a good thing.
(Source: Apple Daily via Techweb)
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