Kellogg’s Falls 2% on Child Labor Report, #DumpKelloggs Petition

Kellogg’s shares (NYSE: K) tumbled over 2% on Wednesday, following accusations that the company benefits from child labor. The stock continued to fall after the launch of Breitbart News’ “#DumpKelloggs” campaign.

Human rights group Amnesty International released an investigative report alleging that a palm oil supplier to Kellogg’s and several other companies has been using child labor, forced labor, and other exploitative practices.

Kellogg’s stock fell $1.62 to close at $72.00 per share, a drop of 2.20%.

The stock has been falling steadily since its peak in mid-July, when it closed at $86.98 on July 19. It fell more than 5% the next day, when rumors of a deal between Kellogg’s and Kraft Heinz turned out not to be true.

Since then, Kellogg’s has lost 17.2% of its value.

The price drop on Wednesday appeared to be unrelated to any sudden changes in input prices. At the Chicago Board of Trade, corn and oats futures were up modestly, while wheat futures dropped. However, other companies similar to Kellogg’s also suffered share price drops. General Mills (NYSE: GIS), a Kellogg’s competitor, lost an even higher percentage of its value, falling $1.72, or 2.74%, to close at $60.94. The market was very slightly positive overall, despite an announcement that OPEC nations had agreed to cut oil production.

Wednesday also marked the launch of a boycott effort by Breitbart News, “#DumpKelloggs,” which garnered over 75,000 signatures on an anti-Kellogg’s petition over several hours. The stock dropped steadily but modestly after the boycott announcement.

Kellogg’s buckled to pressure from left-wing groups, which have sought to stigmatize Breitbart News using false charges of racism, antisemitism, and the like. The effort is part of a broader push against the incoming administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon was recently named Trump’s Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor, after serving as CEO of the successful Trump campaign. He is on leave from Breitbart News.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.