The D Spot

It has been 2 years now—and I feel so betrayed! Tell me—am I the LAST to know?

Because I found this:

In 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in the United States, whose members include Hershey, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk substitutes. Currently, the FDA does not allow a product to be referred to as “chocolate” if the product contains any of these ingredients.

In September 2008, MSNBC reported that several Hershey chocolate products were reformulated to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil as an emulsifier. According to the company, this change was made to reduce the costs of producing the products instead of raising their prices or decreasing the sizes. Some consumers complained that the taste was different, but the company stated that in the company-sponsored blind taste tests, approximately half of consumers preferred the new versions. As the new versions no longer meet the Food and Drug Administration’s definition of “milk chocolate”, the changed items were relabeled from stating they were “milk chocolate” and “made with chocolate” to “chocolate candy” and “chocolaty.”

So, this is the reason why Hershey’s Kisses, Hershey’s Bar, Kissables, Mr. Goodbar, and Krackel have tasted—somehow differently, somehow lacking in umph! in freshness, somehow notches lower than how they used to be. They no longer melt in my mouth the way they used to—rather crude or grainy I would say. And they’re crumbly—not as smooth.

Hershey’s Kissables Milk Chocolate is now called Hershey’s Kissables Chocolate Candy. Whoa!

Replacing cocoa butter with cheaper vegetable oil—to cut costs? Maintaining the size and weight instead of making them smaller and lighter? (at the same time keeping the packaging the same).

And they’re not telling! They would have at least informed us and explained to us that the taste would still have been the same (?)

They’re Hershey’s Chocolates no more! They’re Hershey’s Mockolates as coined by many.

I love Hershey’s Chocolates—I truly do. Now? Hershey’s Mockolates? So sorry, it’s like giving me a poor substitute. They’re just candies, as their very heart and soul—cocoa butter is there no more. From “milk chocolate” they are now “chocolate candies”, “chocolatey”, and “made with chocolate”.

This must be the reason why nowadays I buy more of The Kit Kats, the Meiji Macadamia Chocolates (still a favorite), the Ferrero Rochers, the Toblerones, the M&Ms, Snickers, and the Cadburys. Or have they also reformulated?

And not to forget our very own Choc Nuts!

photocredit: here and here.

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