My question is this…
The third ingredient in Milk Chocolate is “chocolate”. What exactly is it made of?
It seems you could hide a lot of questionable materials under that generic title.
[QUOTE=Hershey’s chocolate bar with almonds]
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar; milk; chocolate; cocoa butter; lactose; milk fat; soy lecithin and PGPR, emulsifiers; and vanillin;, artificial flavor) and almonds (roasted in cocoa butter and sunflower oil).
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[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense]
And Hershey’s Kisses are the worst candy foisted on humans, ever. Yuck.
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Not quite…I can’t access it from here, but there used to be a Bad Candy website where the authors sampled foreign (mostly Mexican) candies. Products containing/flavored like tamarind consistently rated as the worst.
[QUOTE=little*bit]
My question is this…
The third ingredient in Milk Chocolate is “chocolate”. What exactly is it made of?
It seems you could hide a lot of questionable materials under that generic title.
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Not true. The definition of “chocolate” is rather exacting.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/candy.html
[QUOTE=Quoth the Raven]
**What the hell is wrong with Hershey’s chocolate?
**
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The prevailing theory is that it loses something indefinable on its trip down the Hershey Highway.
What?
Both. The 80% figure is ludicrous – it would act more like a block of paraffin than like chocolate.
And, while I know that people add paraffin (and odder things) tio cjocolate for such uses as you describe, I find it hard to believe that they add it to Hershey’s chocolate bars.
And, yes, my understanding is that the ingredients must be listed on the label in decreasing order of constituency. I don’t know if it’s weight or volume.
And, on looking at the list of ingredients, it seems clear that they’re saying "soy lecithin or PGPR as emulsifier. That wouldn’t seem to leave you with much wiggle room for paraffin. (Although I grant that PGPR doesn’t sound inviting, but there shouldn’t be a lot of e,mulsifier in a bar.)
I’ve had chocolate from all over the world, and I’ve had “designer” chocolate bars like those by Dagobah and Vosges. Hershey’s is still one of my favorites for good, basic milk chocolate.
Now Lindt and Dove, that’s some soapy bullshit… 
You can get chocolate from the Star Wars universe?
Cooooool!
..
I hate Hershey’s chocolate. I think of it as “brown wax” with sugar.
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
You can get chocolate from the Star Wars universe?
Cooooool!
..
[/QUOTE]
Oops, it’s Dagoba, no H. But I still make Yoda jokes whenever I eat it.
The secret behind Hershey’s is that it’s an early-in-life acquired taste. Its unique flavor is intentional. Unfortunately for Hershey, its country of origin isn’t high on the international roster in terms of culinary respect, so no one outside of our borders is going to take the pains to cultivate a tongue for the sour milk twang of Hershey’s in their adulthood (like they probably would if it were a French product) - you’d get no social cache for doing so.
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
Hershey’s is the quintessential American chocolate. It isn’t horrible (to this American, at least), just sweet and kind of bland, if indeed chocolate can be bland. It’s the Bud Light of chocolate: bland, inoffensive and formulated for mass appeal.
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I think that’s it right there. Hershey’s is fine. There’s certainly better chocolate out there. Hershey’s would probably be in the middle of the pack.
A person I used to work with swore that the Wonka bar was the best of the mass-produced chocolate he ate. He said that the paraffin content was much lower in that bar than others. I don’t know if that’s true (with the paraffin, at least), but there ya go.
I also wish to say that Godiva has gone downhill in the past 10 years as well.
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
Hershey’s is the quintessential American chocolate. It isn’t horrible (to this American, at least), just sweet and kind of bland, if indeed chocolate can be bland. It’s the Bud Light of chocolate: bland, inoffensive and formulated for mass appeal.
[/QUOTE]
But it IS offensive. These people aren’t having such a strong reaction over something that’s merely uninspiring. The classic recipe of Hershey’s purposefully exhibits a sour milk aftertaste. If you didn’t grow up with that, it’s easy to find it “nasty”.
I am an American and I get a strong … I don’t know how to describe it … gamey (?) taste from Hershey’s chocolate. It tastes like it was made from spoiled milk. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible.
In my experience, any other chocolate is better than Hershey’s. I don’t get a similar flavor from M&M Mars or any other company’s chocolate.
The authoritative cite link is dead, unfortunately, but according to this page:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=31004
Not only does Hershey’s not use paraffin in their chocolate, but the FDA has not even approved it as a food additive. A search on “FDA paraffin additive food” shows that in fact it is approved for gums, but it’s not clear about chocolate.
None of these are as authoritative as I’d like, but combined with the ingredient list, it seems to be a myth that Hershey’s uses paraffin in their products.
In The Emperors of Chocolate, author Joel Glenn Brenner quotes rival chocolate makers as saying things such as –
– “Everyone knows Hershey used spoiled milk to make his chocolate. That’s what makes it so raunchy.”
– “Milton Hershey completely ruined the American palate with his sour, gritty chocolate.”
There are some things one doesn’t mess with - ice cream and chocolate are two examples. The manufacturers are ever wanting to define them down and use ersatz to cheapen them.
Milk Chocolate is different because the cocoa butter is first removed from the chocolate nibs and then returned to the finished product. I think current definition must be at least 15 per cent cocoa butter.
Next, in a process called conching, the chocolate is ground in huge containers with large ball bearings. This takes hours and time=money, the finer chocolates are ground down to silky smooth but lesser quality brands are not.
I’m astonished by all these claims that Hershey’s chocolate is gritty. It seems to be a given.
I grew up on Hershey’s, as I’ve stated, and I would never have thought of using “gritty” to describe its texture. I cannot imagine it being at all accurate now.
I had a Hershey bar at lunch today, so the experience is fresh in my mind (and mouth). Gritty? Have you people ever actually eaten a Hershey bar?
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever]
Hershey’s would probably be in the middle of the pack.
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I think you’d have a hard time finding anything below it - certainly from the larger manufacturers.
ETA: “Gritty” is exactly how I describe it.
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
I’m astonished by all these claims that Hershey’s chocolate is gritty. It seems to be a given.
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IMO the grit is much more noticable in Hershey’s Kisses, especially when they aren’t very fresh. Nothing is worse than the 6-month-old Kisses in the candy dish at my Grandparents’ house.
Actually I would say ‘grainy’ is a better description than ‘gritty’. It’s like the chocolate is cut with gypsum.
I wouldn’t say that M&Ms are any better.
I have three friends, none of who know each other, that are from England, Sweden and Germany.
Every one of them has said that Hershey’s smells like dog shit.
After three independent and vigorous comments like that, I cannot touch the stuff anymore.