What's worse, the use of children in the cocoa industry is increasing. A study by Tulane University found that the number of children working in the cocoa industry in 2013 and 2014 was 51 percent higher than five years earlier. The Tulane report said 1.4 million Sub-Saharan African children were working in the cocoa industry in 2014.

An organization representing the industry says families, not corporations, are mainly responsible for the growth of child labor.

"More than 99.5 percent of child labor that exists is taking place on the family farm,” said Nick Weatherill, executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative. “And, therefore, the much more extreme and definitely concerning [aspect] of [human] trafficking and kids working in indentured labor — that's less than 0.5 percent. It's still a phenomenon. It's still real, but it's principally driven by criminality. It is not driven by industry [and] corporate business practices."

Anti-child labor activists in the United States are trying to use the courts to confront the chocolate industry. Lawsuits pending in California state courts against Hershey, Mars and Nestle are asking for money for residents who bought chocolate. State law requires candy makers to declare on product packages that child slavery was involved in their making.

Hardships for children

Aside from the physical dangers, experts say working is an obstacle to a child's long-term economic advancement, as well.

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