Posted on 09/19/2008 6:07:45 PM PDT by Daffynition
Oh, milk chocolate. Wherefore art thou?
Apparently not in some Hershey’s products that contained milk chocolate for years, and that has passionate chocolate aficionados fighting mad.
Products such as Whatchamacallit, Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbar and Krackel no longer have milk chocolate coatings, and Hershey’s Kissables are now labeled “chocolate candy” instead of “milk chocolate.”
What’s going on here? On Friday, TODAY consumer correspondent Janice Lieberman reported that Hershey’s has switched to less expensive ingredients in several of its products. In particular, cocoa butter — the ingredient famous for giving chocolate its creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture — has been replaced with vegetable oil.
The removal of cocoa butter violates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of milk chocolate, so subtle changes have appeared on the labels of the Hershey’s products with altered recipes. Products once labeled “milk chocolate” now say “chocolate candy,” “made with chocolate” or “chocolatey.”
Some say the label changes are too difficult to spot.
“A lot of people don’t notice it. The package looks exactly the same,” said Cybele May, who has chronicled the changes in detail on her Candy Blog. “I feel betrayed by Hershey’s. They’re giving me an inferior product and they’re not even telling me …
“I call it mockolate, which is basically a fake chocolate product.”
Crunched by rising costs In a statement, Hershey’s told TODAY that consumers love its products and all its candies are clearly labeled. It still offers real milk chocolate in Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and its classic chocolate bar.
“And recently it put back the milk chocolate in Almond Joy because consumers complained,” Lieberman said Friday in her report.
Experts say that while many manufacturers cope with higher costs by increasing their prices or reducing their product sizes, Hershey’s change was meant to be ... [snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I like dark chocolate better than milk chocolate but I definitely concur -- some things are sacred!
And if they start screwing with dark chocolate, I'm outta here.
At least this is due to rising costs. If one more company or restaurant changes their menu to “healthier alternatives” I’m going to scream.
Their chocolate was bad enough to begin with. I’m not a big milk chocolate fan to begin with (I like dark chocolate), but I have always preferred Ghiradelli’s.
And yet they complain.
It’s what you are willing to pay for PLUS there are tons of competitors. Nestles, Ghirdelli, Bakers, Lindt, Lake Champlain, Greens & Black, Mars, and I know there are a whole bunch more...
I thought Hershey was. Which brand do you buy?
I got no reason to go on .
I want my old Hershey bar back that was 4 times as big as todays and only cost 5 cents!!!!
They should get their milk from China. It’s cheaper. More protein, too.
It is surprising that Hershey's made this move. I, personally, will be surprised if this works out well for it in the long term.
I miss the foil wrap ... that plastic baggie is awful! I liked being able to cover the left overs. ;-(
I’ve already emailed Hershey’s and told them I was no longer going to purchase their products because the quality of the food has gone down, while the “quality” of the packaging has gone the other way...more money spent in the packaging and less in the product.
I don’t THINK so!
Avoid the ones with creamy fillings.
Well they did. Within a few years the company was broken up and sold.
You have LEFTOVERS?
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