“Italian” tomato purees sold by several UK supermarkets appear to contain tomatoes grown and picked in China using forced labour, the BBC has found.

A total of 17 products – from supermarkets including those at Tesco, Asda and Waitrose – are likely to contain Chinese tomatoes, testing commissioned by the BBC World Service shows.

Most Chinese tomatoes come from the Xinjiang region, where production is linked to forced labour by Uyhgur and other largely Muslim minorities.

China denies it forces people to work in the tomato industry and says workers’ rights are protected by law.

All the supermarkets whose products we tested dispute our findings.