Hershey’s Promises to Use Only Real Chocolate After Backlash | The change follows weeks of complaints from a grandson of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inventor and other vocal consumers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/business/hershey-reeses-recipe-real-chocolate.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YFA.ujOP.yYZOCCeo1mhl

152 points · 29 comments · view on lemmy.world

29 Comments

Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world · 47 pts · 133d (4 replies)

"chocolate" in mainstream candy is such garbage now. I couldn't bring myself to get the kiddos Reese's peanut butter eggs this year and I used to love those

empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 29 pts · 133d

I refuse to buy anything except real chocolate bars by lindt or similar "premium" brands

Honestly, some of the best chocolate you can get is just semi-sweet baking chips

Angrydeuce@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 133d (2 replies)

Dude and what the hell is it with that weird vomity aftertaste? I swear to god I dont remember it being that way when I was a kid but something in the new chocolate just leaves such a nasty aftertaste on my mouth...

IamSparticles@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 133d

In order to stabilize the milk they use in the milk chocolate bars and make them last longer on the shelf, they treat it with a process that converts some of the milk fats into butyric acid. That's the vomit flavor. I'm sorry to report that it has probably always tasted that way, you just didn't notice. They've been using the same process since the early 20th century.

jeeva@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 133d

It was popularised after world war 2, iirc, so it's been the way it is for a good while.

lemmyng@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 133d (9 replies)

Finally! No more vomit-flavored chocolate!

faythofdragons@slrpnk.net · 39 pts · 133d (1 reply)

No, they're going back to vomit flavor chocolate. There was a recent change that made it even worse, and they're undoing it.

gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 133d

This sounds like a metaphor for American politics

kspes@eviltoast.org · 15 pts · 133d (6 replies)

Yeah, what is up with that?? When i visited the US a few years ago, i bought a hershey bar and it was the most vile, disgusting thing i ever ate. I still remember that vomit flavour, uggghhhh

Typhoon@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 133d

It tastes like vomit because Hershey chocolate contains butyric acid, which is also found in vomit.

Haquer@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 133d (2 replies)

They started using a lot of palm oil and other ingredients to pad out the "chocolate". Why put chocolate in your chocolate

Fredselfish@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 133d (1 reply)

But technically I hear the coco plant the thing we make chocolate from is going extinct due to climate change. They know this and are trying to get ahead of it.

But one day folks there will be no real chocolate.

lemmyng@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 133d

You'd think more chocolate lovers would be against this. Holy fuck, that's bleak.

superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 133d

Its a race to the bottom, I guess we are used to it by now

prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 133d

They add an ingredient to make it taste like bile because that's the taste WW2 vets were accustomed to after eating chocolate rations that had gone bad. It's gross.

So this will probably still taste like vomit, it'll just be made with real cocoa again instead of palm oil.

yakko@feddit.uk · 14 pts · 133d (8 replies)

When you figure out how easy it is to make buckeyes, you never feel smart buying Reese's again.

twistypencil@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 133d (7 replies)

What are buckeyes?

SloppyJoe@toast.ooo · 13 pts · 133d (5 replies)

Chocolate covered balls of peanut butter. https://preppykitchen.com/buckeyes/#recipe

yakko@feddit.uk · 8 pts · 133d (1 reply)

It's outrageous how much better they are homemade with decent peanut butter and real chocolate. You don't even have to temper the chocolate correctly, just form them in cupcake papers or scraps of baking parchment, pop em in the fridge, and devour.

I like to use chunky peanut butter, and add flake salt.

SloppyJoe@toast.ooo · 2 pts · 131d

100% Growing up my great grandma would make buckeyes. No store bought candy compares.

Flake salt is amazing! I just learned about it last year, a friend added it to chocolate chip cookies.

Chef's kiss.

twistypencil@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 133d

Ok, I'm making this. I take chunks of chocolate and dip them in peanut butter every single day, this would make it so much easier

uhmbah@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 133d

Thanks for posting!

Fredselfish@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 133d

Thanks going try this one.

Bahnd@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 133d

The seed of state tree of america's favorite place... Ohio.

But also the confectionary of the same name is dope.

Melobol@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 133d (1 reply)

Aaand now a lit of people will go out and buy some. It will be a bit more expensive but it is better materials.
Then tey will get a positive reinforcement and they more likely buy again next time.
Genius marketing.
Ohh and every news outlet talking about it also. For freaking fee

ccunning@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 133d

We call it Hershey’s Classic®️

melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 133d (1 reply)

Hershey was off the road and into the weeds for a bit there but now they are back on the highway!

kreskin@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 133d

yes they are backtracking to producing merely bad chocolate.

Outdated4134@piefed.zip · 1 pts · 129d

They spelled Reecee wrong