Channel 4 Dispatches has revealed Cadburys has profited from child labour, with children as young as 10 being filmed carrying out dangerous and illegal work in gruelling conditions on cocoa farms in Ghana.

Cadbury Exposed: Dispatches, which is set to air tonight, April 4, has undertaken an undercover investigation into Cadbury’s supply chain and discovered evidence of illegal child labour on a number of farms that supply Cadbury’s Cocoa Life programme – a scheme designed to reassure consumers its chocolate comes from ethical sources.

The documentary will follow reporter Anthony Barnett as he speaks to Cocoa Life farmers.

How to watch Cadbury Exposed: Dispatches?

Cadbury Exposed will air tonight, April 4 on Channel 4. It will air at 8pm.

It will also be available on-demand on the Channel 4 website here after airing.

York Press: (Dispatches: Channel 4)(Dispatches: Channel 4)

The documentary reveals that Cocoa Life farmers earn less than £2 a day, meaning they cannot afford to hire adult workers and must rely on children.

Conversations had with child workers suggested that children are being removed from their families to work on farms against their will. Evidence also suggests they are prohibited from attending school.

Dispatches filmed both openly and with secret cameras.

Ayn Riggs, the founder of Slave Free Chocolate, has campaigned to end child labour in the chocolate industry for many years.

Riggs described the evidence obtained by Dispatches as “horrifying” and called on Cadbury to act.

She said: “The part which really enrages me is these chocolate companies promise to clean this up over 20 years ago. And haven't they admitted that they knew it was going on? They admitted that they knew they were profiting from child labour, and they have shirked their promises not just to these children, but to everybody in the world.”

Riggs added: “If they really wanted to stamp out child labour, there's an easy first step that they haven't done yet, which is paying the farmers a lot more for their beans. Mondelez made last year, made over $4 billion in profit, so the money is there. But on the farms, these farmers can't afford to replace their children with an adult labourer.”

Dispatches attempted to interview Mr Van de Put but he refused.

Instead in a statement, Mondelez said: “We are deeply concerned by the incidents documented in Dispatches. We explicitly prohibit child labour in our operations and have been making significant efforts through our Cocoa Life programme to improve the protection of children in the communities where we source cocoa. We strongly refute any allegation that Mondelez benefits from child labour, which we have relentlessly taken a stand against.

“The welfare of the children and families featured is our primary concern and we commit to investigating further. As part of our Cocoa Life programme, we have Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems in place which means community members and NGO partners are trained to provide assistance to vulnerable children, and help to address any cases of child labour.”