The US Department of Labour has opened investigations into meat companies Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms to determine whether migrant children were used to clean slaughterhouses, Reuters reported, citing a New York Times article.

The Labour Department opened the investigations after a New York Times Magazine article this week showed migrant children working overnight shifts for contractors in the companies' plants on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the report said.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the details of the Times report. The Labour Department and Tyson Foods did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

A Perdue spokesperson said the company had not been notified of the investigation but planned to cooperate fully with any government inquiry on the matter.

"We are conducting a comprehensive third-party audit of child labour prevention and protection procedures including a compliance audit of contractors," Purdue's spokesperson said.

The Labour Department has also opened investigations into Fayette Industrial and QSI that run cleaning shifts for Perdue and Tyson respectively, the newspaper said.

QSI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fayette Industrial could not immediately be reached for comment.

In April the Biden administration sent a letter to meat companies including Tyson and Perdue asking the companies to examine their supply chains for evidence of child labour.

The letter was part of an effort by several agencies, led by the Labour Department, to curb the use of illegal child labour across sectors.