“Hershey has a rich heritage of ‘doing well by doing good’ that traces back to our founder, Milton Hershey,” Terence O’Day, Hershey senior vice president of global operations, said in a statement. “Our commitment to operating our business in a socially responsible manner while bringing goodness to the world is yielding tangible results and helps support and advance our growing global business.”

The listing is the first for Hershey on the sustainability index, the company said.

Earlier this month, Hershey committed to buying 100 percent of its cocoa from sustainable-certified farms by 2020. The move was an expansion of Hershey’s commitment to use Rain Forest Alliance-certified cocoa for its Bliss and Dagoba products.

Hershey’s has faced pressure to do more on sustainability measures, including allegations its production benefits from unfair child labor practices from workers groups and corporate social responsibility groups in a campaign called Raise The Bar. The groups commended Hershey for its latest commitment to sustainability measures but urged it to use the more stringent Fair Trade certification.

The North American index added 17 companies this year. It launched in September 2005 and represents the top 20 percent of the 600 largest companies in the North America Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market.

Hershey’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HSY.