The Candy Blog noticed that Hershey’s “Kissables” have been reformulated, and can no longer be legally labeled “milk chocolate” because of FDA regulations. The new package looks the same, except for the ingredients and the label which now says “Chocolate Candy” instead “Candy Coated Milk Chocolate.”
From the Candy Blog:
The new version is called Chocolate Candy which is code for chocolate-flavored confection, or candy that contains chocolate but can’t be called chocolate because it has other stuff in it that’s not permitted by the FDA definitions (like more oil than actual chocolate).
The ingredients: Sugar, vegetable oil (palm, shea, sunflower and/or safflower oil), chocolate, nonfat milk, whey, cocoa butter, milk fat, gum arabic, soy lecithin, artificial colors (red 40, yellow 5, blue 2, blue 1, yellow 6), corn syrup, resinous glaze, salt, carnauba wax, pgpr and vanillin.
The old ingredients were:
Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, milk fat, lactose, soy lecithin, PGPR & artificial flavors), sugar, red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1 & carnauba wax.
What shall we call this one? The Grocery Suck Ray? The Reformulation Beam?
Kissables (Reformulated) [Candy Blog]
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@TakingItSeriously: Hershey’s, Reeses etc. can hardly be compared to high quality dark chocolate. Try instead a high quality milk chocolate from Scharffen Berger or Vosges. Absolutely no comparison. Despite the dark chocolate craze right now, for pure pleasure of eating, I prefer milk.
Corn syrup? WTF. I liked the old recipe, and it was good.
Not long ago, I started to buy Lindt to go with my lunch at work whenever it went on sale. One time, Dove was on sale as well, so I bought one of each. I never had the best sense of taste, but I could easily tell the difference. Now I think I’ll stick with Lindt, if they’d just go on sale again soon.
I think this is more about replacing some of the cacoa butter with oil and not about candy coatings.
Most chocolate has about one fourth cacao butter added to it for flavor and texture; replacing it with vegetable oil will save a company money.
The Grocery Manufactures of America and others petitioned the FDA last year to allow this switch to more non-cacao vegetable fats added to chocolate to be still called chocolate!
I think Hershey’s was for changing the name of such low or non-cacoa fat chocolate products.
FDA docket: [FDAfooddocket.notlong.com]
I’ve lost track of the latest news on this and hope you all can find out for us.
Hershey’s makes horrible products. Nestle are just as bad, maybe worse. Higher sugar content in the UK candies that the US. The lesson is to not buy mass produced food products I think.
@moore850: Ritter Sport is good – especially the Corn Flake. As weird as it seems, chocolate and corn flakes do taste pretty good together.
I also like Vosges “Haute Chocolate” as an occasional indulgence – especially since they have a bacon chocolate bar!
How about the ‘I’m-not-eating-this-crap ray’
catland – if you’d clicked through to Candy Blog, you’d find out the result of the FDA’s petition from the Grocery Manufacturers Association to allow more liberal interpretations of food definitions (not just for chocolate but also for things like yogurt & mayonaise).
Basically, after Gary Guittard mobilized people with his site http://www.dontmesswithourchocolate.com, tens of thousands of people wrote to the FDA.
The FDA got 34,000 comments and have essentially said that the consumers have spoken and chocolate will remain. The point in the end is that the GMA and chocolate makers didn’t need a more liberal definition, they can make these inferior products already. Hershey’s is demonstrating it right here.
The sad part is that they previously made a chocolate product and are now selling this simulation it as if it was the same thing with only a minute change on the front label that wouldn’t prompt most consumers to even notice.
I guess the key is, always look at the ingredients, every time. Or be prepared to throw it out.
KitKat bars no longer taste the same in Canada since Nestle bought out Rowntree.
@OmniZero: quality reduction beam
I’m mildly alergic to milk chocolate. Removing ‘milk’ from the name but not from the ingredients could potentially cause trouble (in my case, acne).
@Triborough: American Smarties = Rockets in Canada. I never understood why they weren’t just called Rockets everywhere, unless if there is another candy already called Rockets in the US?
@brumbjorn:
“Even hoity-toity Godiva makes their chocolates months in advance and freezes them.”
Whaaaaat?!?!?!
*sob* B-but I LOVE their dark chocolate/raspberry bars! :’(
Lindt is good. I like the Lindor balls too. Two people gave me bags of those for Christmas last year and I ate myself sick. It was great.
My favorite Lindor balls, ironically, are the white chocolate ones.
And people wonder why I only eat imported chocolate that costs 4-6 times the crap at the corner store.
I’m not going to notice the difference because I don’t eat that cheap crap. And no doubt those who do eat it won’t notice the difference either.
@Triborough: Canadian Smarties (I eat the red ones last!) come in round tubes, but only at Xmas and Easter.
It’s really too bad I just got back from a drug store – I would have checked the M&M bag up here. In Canada we have a phrase “Chocolatey” which is applied when the gov’t deems the ingredients aren’t real chocolate any longer. If our bag of M&M reads something like “Candy Coated Chocolatey Candy” ding ding ding.
How about we call it the Mock-O-Late ray? It’s for all the “chocolate candy” lovers out there.
hmmm… probably wont be a big difference in the end product. I mean, if you are buying Hershey’s in the first place, are you goign to notice that one type of oil is substituted for a different type of oil? Its not like this is high-quality chocolate where it might be noticeable…
@HogwartsAlum: Where did you read they freeze them? I doubt that they do as the change in temperature to room temperature would likely take the chocolates out of temper, causing them to bloom.
@Veeber: Oooooo good one!
I am fairly amazed that the chocolate industry did not get the FDA to roll over on this. The swiss cheese industry got the FDA to let them make swiss cheese with almost no holes and who knows what else. No, I’m not making this up.
I suppose chocolate holds a special place for all of us and the idea of fucking with it was too much for even the blandest bureaucrat…
To put a little perspective on this, let’s remember that nobody actually buys kissables. Only the Hershey brand name (whose worth is dubious these days) keeps ill-conceived brand extensions like this from disappearing in a flash. (Instead they get phased out after three or four years…) If Hershey changes the formula for their eponymous Bar, *that* will be news…despite its limited appeal, they won’t risk changing the flavor for fear of alienating all the people who grow up with ‘em. That nostalgia is the lifeblood of the ailing Hershey’s.
And speaking of the Shrink Ray, Brenner’s The Emperors of Chocolate describes how Hershey responded to ingredient price fluctuations by changing the weight of the bar and keeping the price at a nickel. It meant developing new molds and wrappers every time, and the bars just kept getting smaller.
Ingredient crapification ray. Also like when a juice company says that Grape Juice Blend is 100% juice and the ingredients list apple juice as the first ingredient. Ingredient crapification!
I love the Canadian Smarties, every time I go over I buy some.
However these Hershey Kisses were gross before they lost the ‘milk chocolate’.
It’s looking as if the FDA is the “Congress” and the public lobbies against whatever food industry (lobby) to play “tug-of-war” for what we eat and what it’s made of. Sad – so sad.
@asthecrowspins: I’m not sure if it’s in Brenner’s book or not, but I recall that Hershey’s struggled for a long time to keep the 5 cent bar that price, I think that was the only time the bar dipped below the one ounce mark.
Honestly, I don’t have a problem with sizes changing (or even recipes as needed), I get that supply and market forces apply to food. I just thought it was funny that this change by a chocolate company to a non chocolate product just before launching a campaign touting their “pure chocolate” was disingenuous.
Hershey’s did change their formula, btw. About two years ago they added an additional emulsifier, PGPR (made from castor beans) in addition to the soy lecithin found in most chocolate. It succeeds in diluting the chocolate only by about 1%, but that’s a savings for the company.
I do so love how most here are connoisseurs of chocolate.
Am I upset that candy makers will start using various oil instead of the more expensive cocoa butter? Yes. But, one could make the case that this could actually be more efficient and lead to less waste in production.
I like Lindt, Newman’s Own Organic, Ghiradelli and Godiva… I can’t afford anything more expensive than that. But, if I want cand bar that just fun chocolate experience give me a Nestle’s Crunch Bar.
In fact, give me a GD-Coffee Crisp Bar! NOW!
You people need to get your hands on Cadbury chocolate. Not the stuff made by Hershey, or the stuff from the UK, but the stuff made in Australia. That’s the best mass-produced chocolate ever.
For slightly more upmarket chocolate, look for Guylian.
@marsneedsrabbits: You shouldn’t avoid Scharffenberger just because Hershey bought them. It’s world-class chocolate all the way. Almost as good as Valrhona, I’d say. Dagoba I could go either way because some of their stuff is just too adulterated, but Scharffenberger makes an amazing dark chocolate bar using centuries old belgian tools, and some very nice single origin and restricted origin bars as well. It’s all cocoabutter, well tempered, great mouth feel, not too sweet, and a complex finish to boot.
@HogwartsAlum: Don’t worry. Chocolate is full of antioxidants and has an effective shelf life of years if stored properly. It may experience a slight amount of “bloom”, which is a cloudy outer layer of crystalized cocoabutter, but it can be retempered and restored to its former tastiness.
@Pinget: American chocolate can be good. Like my previous post, buy Scharffenberger. It’s made right here in Berkeley, CA, and its some of the best chocolate on earth.
I vote for the “Reformulation Ray.” The “Ray” indicates it’s from the same toolbox as the Grocery Shrink-Ray. Alliteration is always good too.
I guess to keep prices from going through the roof we have to sacrifice either quantity or quality.
I vote “Grocery Reformulation-Ray” or “Grocery Tweak-Ray”.
I only tried Kissables once, and I couldn’t even get them down — I think I ended up throwing most of them away. I have a weakness for M&Ms, but the Kissables were just plasticky. Definitely not chocolate!
Well suck.
Kissables, unlike M&Ms, are peanut free – so I can give them to my kidlet with the deadly peanut & tree nut allergies.
I’ve always been thankful there was that alternative.
Now they’re made with such gross ingredients, I’m not sure how I feel about them.
@testsicles:
Why it would punish those who stuck with better ingredients?
Because right now, and traditionally, if it has been labeled “chocolate”, it has actually meant something, legally and ingredient-wise.
The public has an expectation of what “chocolate” is and Hershey would like to be able to change that, not for quality reasons, but for economic reasons.
If other companies stuck with traditional ingredients, they would be forced to compete with Hersheys, who would suddenly be able to sell much cheaper candy and still call it “chocolate”, which they have previously been unable to do.
@ludwigk:
You shouldn’t avoid Scharffenberger just because Hershey bought them. It’s world-class chocolate all the way. Almost as good as Valrhona, I’d say. Dagoba I could go either way because some of their stuff is just too adulterated, but Scharffenberger makes an amazing dark chocolate bar using centuries old belgian tools, and some very nice single origin and restricted origin bars as well. It’s all cocoabutter, well tempered, great mouth feel, not too sweet, and a complex finish to boot.
Thanks for the suggestions. Have you tried Theo Chocolate 3400 Phinney> We’re going to try a bar this weekend.
I have had Sharffenberger and enjoyed it very much; they certainly do make a quality product. But I have to draw the line somewhere, and for me, Hershey pushing to be able to call inferior junk “chocolate” means that Sharffenberger is off my list for now.
Not surprised at all, I remember a law suit in the UK over Cadbury’s not being real milk chocolate, that stuff is way better than Hersheys too!
Like Hershey’s was ever “Milk Chocolate” to begin with….
Oompa loompa doompty doo
I’ve got something not chocolate for you
Oompa loompa doompty dee
Red dyes, carnauba, and goo oily
/Wonka
@savvy999: You and I think alike! I was just going to suggest:
component castrater
@catskyfire: Get a bag of semisweet chocolate chips. They’re cheap and good.
It’s garbage, if not outright poisonous.
Dark chocolate is far better, and satisfying to those who crave the effects of theobromine.
@Grrrrrrrrr: It’s that Canuck/Yank paradox: we both adore chocolate but Canucks think Hershey’s is too bitter and nasty while Yanks think Cadbury is too sweet and cloying.
If I ever visit the States again, I’m bringing some Smarties and a few Coffee Crisps with me. Coffee Crisp … droool.
@mrearly2: I just can’t bring myself to like dark chocolate. I tried, I honestly did… but I just don’t like it.
@seamer: thumbs up for Cadbury. You won’t go back Hershey after a cadbury with Almonds.
@mjane79:
brumbjorn’s comment, said that they froze the chocolate.
I keep my Godiva bars in the fridge, but they usually are ok for a while. I eat them way too fast for them to go bad.
??? Do I have a Godiva bar right now? Reading over this again is making me want chocolate, BAD!
@catskyfire: You don’t have to buy chocolate at all – it is not an essential purchase so maybe buy it less often but buy a nicer quality. You’ll still have the same outlay but will be eating less of an unhealthy product and what you do buy will be slightly less unhealthy too.
@jchabotte: i agree new coke ray
They were talking about this on the Today show this AM… Mr. Goodbar, Krackle, and several others have the “new formula” now. Almond Joy was changed but has now been changed back to the original. Regular Hershey bar and Reese’s PB Cups remain “old school” at this point…
What year did Candy 2.0 begin? First it was LARGE Reese’s cups, then WHITE cups and White Kit Kats and Kissables and Rasberry-filled Hershey Kisses and now a MINT Milky Way, Caramel Reese’s and chocolate covered Altoids! Was anyone asking for this? “Hello, I’d like a Kit Kat inside a Mint Peanut butter Cup covered in White Chocolate please”
I see a lot of these “new” products in the 50% off bin at many a convenience store.
I agree with the poster who said that its better to indulge in some quality chocolate than eat ‘pretend’ chocolate.