Sainsbury's and Asda agree to review use of coconuts picked by 'monkey slaves' after Carrie Symonds throws her weight behind campaign

Carrie Symonds has thrown her weight behind the campaign to end the use of 'monkey slaves' in coconut farming after the issue was brought to light by the Telegraph.

Sainsbury's has now agreed to review all of its coconut products and Asda has vowed to drop the brands after a host of other supermarkets including Waitrose promised to remove them from sale on Wednesday.

An investigation by Peta Asia found that Thai coconut harvesters, including some of the biggest brands from the country which were stocked in the UK's leading supermarkets, used monkeys on leads to climb up trees to harvest the fruit.

The animals are seen chained to dirty tyres with no shelter from heavy rain, and they have their front teeth removed so they cannot fight back.

When they are not forced to pick coconuts, they are kept in cramped conditions with no ability to perform their usual behaviours.

Monkeys are favoured for the job as they are able to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day, and it is thought that a human can pick about 80.

It said it also discovered "monkey schools", where the animals were trained to pick fruit, as well as ride bikes or play basketball for the entertainment of tourists.

After The Telegraph reported on Waitrose, Morrisons and Ocado dropping the products, Ms Symonds commented: "Glad Waitrose, Co-op, Boots & Ocado have vowed not to sell products that use monkey labour, while Morrisons has already removed these from its stores.

"Time for ALL supermarkets to do the same."

The Prime Minister's fiancée called the conditions the monkeys face "appalling".

Environment minister Lord Goldsmith also supported the campaign, sharing it on Twitter.

An Asda spokesperson said: “We expect our suppliers to uphold the highest production standards at all times and we will not tolerate any forms of animal abuse in our supply chain. We are removing the products from sale whilst we investigate these allegations with our suppliers.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson added: “We are actively reviewing our ranges and investigating this complex issue with our suppliers.

“We are also in contact with PETA UK to support our investigations."