Podcast | Busted! Detecting Chinese Cotton Made With Forced Labor

We haven’t stopped the importation of cotton produced in China with the use of forced labor.

A recent study conducted by Applied DNA Sciences and Stratum Reservoir found that fully 19% of apparel sold in the U.S. and elsewhere contained cotton sourced from China’s Xinjiang Province, where reports of forced labor, especially among the ethnic Uyghur population, are prevalent. That’s despite passage in the U.S. of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, intended to ban such products. On this episode, we learn how Applied DNA Sciences and Stratum Reservoir employ sophisticated DNA tagging and isotopic analysis to detect the presence of Xinjiang cotton in imported products, even if they first passed through a third country and were mixed with materials from other regions. Our guest is MeiLin Wan, vice president of textile sales with Applied DNA Sciences, who explains the company’s groundbreaking technology and how it can help to eliminate the scourge of forced labor in the apparel industry once and for all. Hosted by Bob Bowman, Editor-in-Chief of SupplyChainBrain.

Show notes:

Applied DNA Sciences’ CertainT technologies.