“Primark investigating 'forced labor' notes found in clothing”, 26 Jun 2014

A shopper in Northern Ireland...discovered a chilling note stuffed in a pair of pants she purchased from European retailer, Primark [part of Associated British Foods]. Scrawled on a yellow piece of paper and wrapped around what appears to be a prison identification card, was a message claiming to be from an inmate at a Chinese prison making clothes for export under conditions of slave labor. "We work 15 hours every day and eat food that wouldn't even be fed to pigs and dogs. We're (forced to) work like oxen," the handwritten note said in Chinese...Primark denied sourcing clothing made using forced labor in a statement...Since 2009, the company's ethical standards team has carried out nine inspections of the supplier who made the garment, and found no prison or forced labor of any kind, the statement said...[T]he spokesperson said Primark...has started a detailed investigation...