Hershey milk chocolate not legal

Hershey's has formulated several of its candies, removing the cocoa butter and replacing it with vegetable oil. As a result, Hershey can't legally call it milk chocolate any longer. Here's a link to one of the candies: http://consumerist.com/5034753/hersheys-kissables-no-longer-legally-considered-milk-chocolate

This may be provocative, but I'd tend to agree and find many of them taste distinctly odd and sickly. Sorry.

Tend to agree with what?

The EU had a fight about this for over a quarter of a century. In the UK, Cadbury and other "milk chocolates" are 'way ahead of Hershey's and have contained other vegetable fats more or less forever. Apparently that was also the case in Ireland and Denmark, all three countries in 1973 got what they call an "opt-out" from EU regulations that normally allowed only cocoa butter, then spent 27 years trying to work it out. Finally in 2000, the EU caved and decided that it's OK for milk chocolate to contain other vegetable fats. If it's sold in the country of manufacture, it can be called just "milk chocolate". If it's exported, it must be labeled "family milk chocolate" or something like that. But candy labeled "chocolate" containing vegetable fat can legally be sold anywhere in Europe. Not so in the US, apparently.

Tend to agree with what?

With not calling it chocolate

I think pretty much every European I've known has disliked Hershey's chocolate. I guess I can understand that - I can easily tell the difference between it and anything from England, Switzerland, Germany, etc. Having grown up with the stuff, I like it. Not as much as Lindt, Valrhona, Sharffen Berger, or a host of others, but a lot more than Cadbury's. I wonder if it's the vegetable oils that make Cadbury's unappealing to me? If so, I suppose I may not like Hershey's much anymore, either.

Cadbury's always feels like the major branded wines to me - soft flavoured, inoffensive, but ultimately unrewarding.

I have enjoyed some of the produce of continental chocolatiers who've experimented with herbs/spices, but amazing how many are unbalanced. With something like Rosemary for instance, a little goes a very long way. Chilli chocolate is often seriously over-strong and white chocolate doesn't seem a good starting point for such flavours. Fennel however is a herb that works very well for me in chocolate.

Favourite chocolate - Pierre Marcolini in Brussels - I heard him described as the enfant terrible of their chocolate scene which sounds like a fair compliment. Haven't had any for about 2 years though.

regards

Ian

I have to be in a very childish mood -- or very desperate -- to eat Hershey's anymore. 99% of the time it is better to do without.

There are lots of good chocolatiers out there; it's hard to pick just one. My most recent purchase was Debauve & Gallais. I live near Jacques Torres. I am still sad that Richart has closed its NYC store. I enjoyed the Pralus Pyramide des Tropiques at Xmas time. (Oh, dear, I'm rambling....)

I think pretty much every European I've known has disliked Hershey's chocolate. I guess I can understand that - I can easily tell the difference between it and anything from England, Switzerland, Germany, etc..

I don't think one has to be European to dislike Hersheys. All that is required are taste buds

Also, there is pleny of garbage chocolate in Europe, just check the low-grade supermarket milk chocolate aisle for evidence. Of course there is also real chocolate as well, and easier to find i n Europe. Things have gotten better in the US, but one must ignore the proliferation of pseudo high end 'dark' 'organic' 'fair-trade' 'single estate' etc etc chocolate in many US markets. Everything is always overdone and perverted. Or am I focusing too much on the negatives.