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- Vomit in a stylish package.
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- Smooth and inviting, but looks can be deceiving!
The stuff tastes positively vile. Rank even. The aftertaste is so reminiscent of having thrown up in your own mouth that you are quite likely to do just that.
Refrigerating this ‘chocolate’ does little to stave off the nausea brought on by smelling and tasting this uniquely American candy. If you’re unlucky enough to try it for the first time at room temperature, or worse, out of a warm trouser/pant pocket, you’ll be in for a real treat. Not.
There is a good reason why Hershey’s chocolate has this distinct aroma and flavor, they use soured milk (instead of buttermilk or cocoa butter) and have done for decades, all the way back to the Second World War. That’s right, soured milk. How many people do you know love to chug-a-lug on a lumpy, cheesy carton of soured milk? None that I know of, but many Americans and devotees in many other parts of the world lap this stuff up by the million.
Chocolate + Sour Milk = Fail?
Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Hershey’s Milk Chocolate has a ‘unique’ smell and flavor. Tell us what you think about this American classic!
Here’s a good link for starters. Lots of people have posted on this page with similar views regarding Hershey’s traditional milk chocolate. http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/aaasmt/index.php/url_indprod?ltrev=72&xlc=77
Hello there. Glad you could make it. My blog is mainly for me to discuss my Limey perspective on American life but you will also find other subject matter I find of interest. Check the "Totally Unrelated" category for non-Limey stuff.
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A Limey In America 
I’ve just been brought some Hershey’s back from America, I have a cold right now and yes, all I can taste is vomit.
So now I have cold + vomit taste
ha
Nice.
same, i went to asda ( uk version of wallmart type thing ) an they had hersheys and i was like “woa american chocolate , lets get it 😀 ” so i made my dad get it and i had to pretend i like it but its like shitting through your mouth its vile 😦
LOL.
Hershey’s sucks. I don’t know how people eat that crap
I agree.. looking at other peoplee buy it – I bought it as well – tastes of vomit! yuck, now having paid it do we eat it or ??
I love chocolate, LOVE IT. I have had chocolates from around the globe, and not just the major brands, and I still enjoy Hershey. I find that most British chocolate tastes like pure sugar; British chocolates are so sweet that they make my throat dry. I generally prefer very dark chocolate, 70% cacao, but I do enjoy milk chocolate when it isn’t loaded down with 500 pounds of sugar. Hershey uses soured milk in their process and it makes for a very distinct flavor. If you do not like it, that’s fine, but you shouldn’t bash it. In the US we also have chocolate made with chili peppers, lavender flowers, and even bacon! I am not fond on most Cadbury products as they taste cheap and too loaded with sugar for me, but I grew up with different products so my taste is swayed, just as yours is.
I agree 100 per cent. It leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Other chocolate doesn’t’t. I wonder why this occurs.
I tried Hersheys for the first time a couple of years ago when working out in California. None of their chocolate can even be called remotely good, but their milk chocolate is positively vile, and really does taste of vomit; not nasty morning-after-heavy-drinking vomit, but that had-a-bit-too-much-to-eat vomit that escapes one’s stomach, following a burp up to the mouth. I concur. One wouldn’t drink turned milk, so why the hell would anyone eat chocolate made from it.
An acquired taste to be sure. No wonder they can’t sell the crap in the UK. Cadbury’s is far superior.
On the other hand, being an American I feel like Cadbury tastes stale and cheep, and all together quite inedible. I think Hershey’s tastes quite nice, sweet, and creamy, so I suppose it’s mostly a point of view thing. I grew up with Hershey’s and you grew up with Cadbury, so I think it’s probably mostly because we’re used to and love the taste of each of our respective chocolate brands.
There are different types of Hershey’s and I think people who complain about the vomit taste have tried one particular kind (like me). The Hershey’s I tried in the UK was anything but sweet and creamy. I don’t honestly believe that anyone can get accustomed to that. In the UK I was given marmite a horrible spread – it was horrible then and now.
Being an American that grew up with it but having traveled in Germany, France and the UK, I feel that Hersheys is vomit.
You’re crazy. Hersheys has no taste to it.
Or it could be because the butyric acid in Hershey’s is what gives vomit its flavour, and is also produced by decaying bodies. Preferring chocolate that literally contains a chemical that tastes like vomit isn’t a point of view thing so much as an uneducated palate thing…
Cadbury’s might be a bit better, but it’s hardly “far superior”. Get some decent European chocolate, or something from a small independent manufacturer like Divine if you really care about chocolate.
‘A Cadbury Dairy Milk bar contains 23% cocoa solids, whereas a Hershey bar contains just 11%.’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8414488.stm
Whilst Cadbury’s is clearly not the best, ‘far superior’ is actually a reasonable description.
Cadbury’s may not be great, but far superior is absolutely a fair description, more milk, more actual Cocoa, and no vomit taste – of course that’s superior.
High quality European chocolate is far superior to Cadbury. The comparison between high quality chocolate and Hershey’s is like comparing chocolate to manure.
Hershey’s also adds a synthetic type of stuff (instead of cocoa butter) called PGPR. It’s made from castor oil and is not good. I do not eat Hershey’s artificial castor bean chocolate. Write to Hershey’s and tell them you don’t want artificial chocolate. If fast food slaves would decide to free themselves and not eat such atrocities, then the processed food companies would have to start adding real ingredients again. Start by not eating Hershey’s.
Cadbury is not much better. Cadbury is way so sweet it burns my throat. It’s sweeter than pure sugar. I wonder if it actually contains any cocoa.
The best commercial chocolate is Lindt. Of the less well known brands (available in Australia and New Zealand), there is also Whitaker’s – It has a shap flavour with a very subtle bitterness that you’d expect from eating real chocolate – The sweetness is perfect.
If you want something amazing though, you’d have to go to a small-scale master chocolatier in Europe.
DAMN! I just realized that I agree with every single thing you said. Cadbury’s no prize yet everyone treats it like it’s the pride of Britain (I’m sure there is better chocolate over there).
I’m glad I’m not the only one… I just googled ‘Does Hersheys taste like vomit?’ to see if anyone else had noticed… Horrible stuff.
I just did exactly the same thing! A friend brought some back from his holiday to New York and I nearly had to run to the bathroom after trying the horrible stuff!
Exactly the same thing, wish I’d googled it before trying one of those vile “kisses”
Ugh
Me too! I had two Hershey’s kisses in a box of gifts, tried one and found it tasted like vomit, so of course I had to try the second one to make sure. I googled “Hershey’s tastes like vomit” and found no shortage of people who agree!
I’m an American born and bred, and I like Hershey’s chocolate. I admit it’s probably an acquired taste. My wife like Symphony chocolate, and I prefer See’s if I’m getting higher-quality chocolate. I’m probably just not all that refined. There are a lot better chocolate makers in this country alone, but I like the standard Hershey’s bar with almonds. One thing that’s always bugged me is my friends that rave about the chocolate from England and Europe. I’ve never been all that impressed by it.
Yes, people rave about it because it’s better. You really need to do yourself a favor and branch out in your chocolate eating!
Personally I have tried lots of other chocolates but Hershey’s is my favorite. I guess its an American thing.
If its American, then even if it is shit you have to like it?
I am an american who has lived in Canada for most of my life, and I used to love Hersheys milk chocolate when I was a kid, and now I can’t stand it and notice the vomit-taste strongly. I think they do this to develop product loyalty though it may also be for patriotic reasons as Hersheys was extensively used as rations in WWII. Once you get used to soured flavors you end up preferring them, like people who eat blue cheese. My theory is that they used the sour-milk on purpose for WWII rations so that americans would get used it but if any other allied troops got ahold of their chocolate ration it would taste like crap, so there would be less incentive in stealing american troop’s rations.
Just dropping in 3 years later to compliment you on your theory. A chocolate this unpleasant has to have a *reason* for existing. My thought is that Hershey originally did it for the same reasons all businesses do such things, because it was cheaper. Like LOTS cheaper because they didn’t depend on fresh milk. Then I’m thinking, in wartime, this was the only chocolate American’s got. If you’re hungry, even bad chocolate probably tastes pretty good. So that gave them fond memories that eventually created a culture of thinking Hersheys was wonderful.
That’s the same way I feel.
You’ve never had fine European chocolate, apparently. Go to Walmart and buy some. You’ll never touch Hersheys dog shit chocolate again. I recommend Ferro Kuschen, Ferro Rocher, or even Lindtz
I always thought of Hershey’s as having a distinct and mildly sour taste, but I never heard anyone compare it to vomit. I thought the uniqueness and cheapness of the chocolate was the whole reason for its success. However, it’s understandable why someone who has never had it would be turned off. Nobody around here considers it even close to America’s finest chocolate (everyone prefers See’s), so someone from halfway around the world would probably find it disgusting if he’s not used to it. It seems to be the same reaction that I’ve seen my American classmates have to foreign chocolates (they complained that several European brands tasted like cardboard and powdered hot cocoa mix, and most made faces as they ate the cinnamon chocolate that came from South America–I found all chocolates delicious).
This phenomena is most likely because the europeans eat dark chocolate and hersheys is milk chocolate, if you’re used to one of them the other is going to taste weird or like vomit in this case. Also to the creator of this conversation/blog soured milk is not the same as spoiled milk it is neither lumpy nor cheesy its just been aged, like cheese is but for a shorter amount of time so it becomes soured, not spoiled, and not cheesy. I do have to admit though after eatting hershey all my life, I’m starting to get a little bit of that taste of “vomit” as you describe it.
I cannot speak for most Europeans, especially as us Brits tend not to think of ourselves as ‘European’ ( we were dragged kicking and screaming in to the European Union ) but most Brits prefer and consume milk chocolate. Dark (non-milk) chocolate has typically always been reserved for more niche chocolate offerings and typically on the upscale and/or expensive end of most chocolate manufacturers’ product offerings.
As to the somewhat gross reference to spoiled milk that I used in my original blog post, I agree with you, but please understand that I used that reference less for chemical accuracy and more for poetic license! 🙂
‘Nightcloak’ I most certainly was not dragged kicking and screaming in to the EU! I was very happy to join and still am! ‘Us Brits’ as you call we are not all anti-European. Speak for am self!Notwithstanding that, Hershey’s Milk ‘Chocolate’ IS revolting!
ps.There are some good guides to English grammar available on Amazon.
The problem is not about dark versus milk chocolate – decent milk chocolate does not taste like vomit.
Butyric acid is a major flavour component of vomit, and is also produced by decaying bodies. Some manufacturers add butyric acid to chocolate destined for sale in the US to cater for the taste people have for sour chocolate. Draw your own conclusions…
Don’t just support because you did not have a choice. You should try Lindt and Cadbury’s and you will realize how chocolates are made. Hershey’s are shit and you love it because you are American or you never had a choice. Whatever it is, I pity you.
Dude chill. Just because you have a certain preference towards something doesn’t mean everyone in the world will have the same like or dislike towards it. That is why there are so many brands and varieties within the brand. Consumer choice is personal, don’t insult others just because you have a different opinion.
@Ryan “I’m glad I’m not the only one… I just googled ‘Does Hersheys taste like vomit?’ to see if anyone else had noticed… Horrible stuff.”
We just had someone come back into the office from Java One with a bag full of Hershey bars. There is still a bag full. Nobody will touch this as common consensus is that it does, indeed, taste like sick.
Grim
I absolutely love Reese’s Pieces, though 🙂
Funny as Reese’s is made by Hershey!
haha, I just googled “Hersheys vomit” too after trying a hersheys kisses for the first time, gross!
Hahaha – this is amazing.
I just had the unfortunate experience of Hershey’s Kisses after someone in the office bought them back from the States, and I seem to be the only one to notice this distinct vomit flavouring they have so kindly added to their ‘chocolate’.
It really is vile. They could learn a thing or two from Lindt.
I couldn’t agree more. A neighbour brought us a load back from the States as a ‘thank you’ for looking after her cats – ha – what an insult! It tastes just like waxy brown vomit formed into a solid bar, and when you take a bite it feels like someone has done acid puke straight in your mouth. My son ended up eating it, but then he’s so greedy he’d probably eat real vomit if there was nothing else on offer.
I love hershey’s
how do you not like it?
Helen, I think the ‘tastes like vomit’ statement sums it up which begs the question ‘If you love Hersheys, how DO you end up on a blog that definitely does not sing its praises’?
In answer to your question, I ended up on this blog by googling the Hershey process. LOL, if Hershey’s taste like vomit by the same ingredient that is common to cheese, then it would follow that cheese would taste like vomit.
Some (few) cheeses do taste like vomit. But in cheese I find it less offensive, perhaps because of the strong savoury flavours. Vomit taste in Hershey’s has only sweet flavours to complement it (there’s not enough cocoa to give a bitter taste) so it really stands out as a kick in the back of the mouth.
WTF! What’s your problem? I guess you just don’t like chocolate, but why do you have to hate on Hershey’s so bad?
Get a Life!
No one is ‘hating on’ Hershey’s.
We’re all just rather curious on why it tastes like sick.
From this conversation, how can you assume we don’t like chocolate. I’m sure we all love it.
We just don’t love that taste in sick in our mouths.
Butyric acid is a major flavour component of vomit, and is also produced by decaying bodies. Some manufacturers add butyric acid to chocolate destined for sale in the US to cater for the taste people have for sour chocolate. Draw your own conclusions…
you could not be more right – i’m Austrian citizen and used to MILKA, TOBLERONE or BENSDORF. The FDA in USA is protecting the worst producers of chocolate, because they get lots of bribes. Wherever you look – politics wins the battle and the war.
Possibly but I doubt that’s why it’s so successful. Most Americans (and quite a few in other places) myself included love Hershey’s. I actually stumbled on this blog as I was eating a bar just now. Yes, there is a distinct taste but calling it vomit flavor is a bit of a stretch. And soured milk is common in everything from cheese to yogurt to buttermilk. I will admit it is an acquired taste as was some of the chocolates I had in Germany and England but regardless, I love the stuff. It certainly is not considered a fine chocolate in USA but more of a midrange. You have the cheap wax like stuff at the dollar stores on the low end, then Hershey’s at midrange, then a step up and one of the best milk chocolates worldwide being Dove, then you have the very fine chocolates. So there’s a bit of perspective for you.
I don’t think it’s a stretch at all. That acrid taste that kicks in as one’s finishing a Hershey’s Kiss is exactly like one spewed a little in one’s mouth. I don’t doubt that a taste for Hershey’s can be acquired, but it’s not a process I wish to go through.
It really isn’t a stretch… Butyric acid is a major flavour component of vomit, and is also produced by decaying bodies. Some manufacturers add butyric acid to chocolate destined for sale in the US to cater for the taste people have for sour chocolate. Draw your own conclusions…
i found this little thread by accident….i’m american, i can’t say i’m a fan of hershey’s, but to only compare it to the “better” european brands, which are also giant corporations isn’t really saying much about the chocolate flavor “bar” that’s been set. growing up with a particular flavor (e.g., Hershey’s vs Cadbury’s) creates a bias, which is probably why more americans might say they like hershey’s and more europeans like cadbury, its just what’s familiar.
giant and even semi giant companies sacrifice quality to make more money–it doesn’t matter what country they are from.
search “bean to bar” and you’ll find arguably the best micro-batch chocolates being made, mostly in the US but, also in europe. once you’ve tasted these, you might soon be saying cadbury’s tastes like some other unpleasant bodily product. its all a matter of perspective and taste.
sorry for the rant…
You would be wrong. No we would not change our likings to i.e. Cadburry because of what we read about it.
People here don’t think Hershey’s taste like vomit because of what we read about it – we do so because we actually tasted it.
Btw. some Americans commenting here refer to See’s as the top notch. Now it’s my turn: WTF? A boring box a “handmade” chocolate like that you have to work hard to find and you only think See’s is amazing because obviously you have never tried anything else.
I had never even heard of (or come across) See’s Candy till reading this thread [http://www.sees.com/]
Thanks for broadening my horizons.
On the other hand, I doubt you’ll find many Americans saying that Cadbury’s tastes like “vomit”. It’s pretty common for people used to non-American chocolate to find Hershey’s unappealing though.
ultrafly , i was just talking to a girlfriend who loves chocolate hersheys’ in peticular.i brought it up but she put her fingers in her ears to shut out the truth of what i discovered through first hand,hands on, bar to mouth experience..i told her in my epicurean research that i found some very peculiar gustatorial discoveries.first everyone on this blog is elaborating on the soured milk that taste slightly pre~vomitorium,a taste which ironically holds strong a decadent place in the history and of rome.lol.second i with wine tasting there are tasting ettiquette thus flavour aroma bouquet..lightest to full body..testing or tasting for acidity tannin tannics .the wine tasters put blindfolds on and smell and taste for latter likes or dislikes..in the consumption of tasting chocolates to me is very similar. the only difference being one is drinkable and the other edible.but overall the same .and i conclude that the hershey bar not only has a second finishing acidic aroma or vomit..if you really put your mind to it and your finger on it sorta speak because detecting what im getting at your tastebuds have to be mercurially quick .the first fecal aromic fragrantica undertaste is of and once eaten returns back to the lower end of the inner intestinal body..the al e’ nature molecular gastronomic of the creative world of le’ culinaire..inshort a hershey has a quick taste of crap then it goes into puke mode.just enough to not make you throw up your guts.seriously..but with a kind of dark n light crappy chocolaty sick humour that we all love sooo much em em good:)lol..the recycled slight smell of feces and vomit with anticipated pleasure in through your mouth into your stomach out your poop chute and into your mouth again ,only to throw it up alittle and enjoy the ass’tronomically gastronomical ride.thru the hershey highway of candyland..and even though we consciously know now that hershey literally taste like crap,and when we were completely unconscious of the whole matter of the shituation involved .and loved eating crap oblivious of knowing this only depends on how far your gluttonous lust for chocolate takes you in your conquest over death..because everything worth anything in an overpriced restaurant is black like caviar or truffles /chocolate mousse or licorice expresso or a boutique candy bar like godiva see’s toblerone or dove..subconsciously people want to control there fate by making death edible..as they reincarnate through food and a assorted variety of chocolate desserts and candies to insure inner utopia by satisfying the palate and to soothe the soul..’your are what you eat ‘and ‘you eat what you are’and ‘you eat what they earn’ hence ,in this case ‘crap’..thanx for vent listenin’ ciao
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate is ass. It’s like the Bud/Miller/Coors of chocolate.
you said it j.w. lol
It’s all in what you’re used to. Unfortunately, Hershey bars are the “gold standard” the same way that Coca-Cola is the standard for soda-pop drinks. Hershey’s slogan even used to be “The Great American Chocolate Bar.” And yes, it does have a sour milk taste. As an American, I just accept that this is what chocolate is supposed to taste like. Personally, I always preferred Milky Way or 3 Musketeers, (M&M Mars company products), but Mars doesn’t really make a plain bar of chocolate.
It’s crazy, I know, but it’s all subjective. There’s a whole continent of Australians that scarf down Vegemite and Marmite. Now THERE’S some stuff that REALLY tastes like vomit.
Aha! So apparently Americans do actually posess the ‘vomit-taste’ gene. Why the need to conceal it? If you can taste puke in other countries’ foods, you obviously should be able to taste it in Hersheys too. The only other explanation is some weird patriotic dillusion.
There’s nothing patriotic about it! I’m definitely not pro-American or anything, but I still have a preference when it comes to cheap, tasty chocolate. If I had money to buy Lindt or Godiva and was able to walk down to a local corner store and get them, I would. But in America, especially in more spread out cities, you have to drive EVERYWHERE.
Why can’t you people just understand that different cultures have different flavor palates and leave it at that?
You do understand Chocolate is supposed to taste somewhat like cocoa. Vegemite and marmaite are what they are, thats certainly not chocolate. You are confusing the issue. Hershey’s is awful (supposedly) chocolate.
Terrible chocolate but as I write this im reading that Hershey’s want to take over Cadbury’s, that would be so wrong on many levels. I hope the deal doesn’t go through, ill be weeping if it does. :S
I’m still waiting to hear if I need to throw myself off a bridge if this deal goes through.
i concur with many of the sentements posted here regarding hershey’s chocolate. It is vile!!! I was offered beef jerky (also vile) and said bar of hershey’s chocolate on a connecting flight from nyc to memphis recently. Why would any company be happy to make chocolate that clearly tastes like it has been regurgetated? Thank god for cadbury’s, here’s hoping they dont buy cad’s out and turn our great chocolate sicky flavoured!!
I think they would make products more of the local like
i love thats stuff it is so good you guys are just haters!
I’m pretty sure we just legitimately don’t like it. Many of us “haters” seem to have arrived here by googling “Hershey’s tastes like vomit” after tasting some.
What is it exactly about the vomit taste that Americans seem to like? After seeing this stuff mentioned in classic movies and on TV, I really thought it might actually be nice. I notice Hersheys and nylon stockings wooed a few thousand British women during the war…all I can say is they must have been desperate for food, due to the rationing. It is positively vile. I suggest you yanks chomp on a bar of Galaxy milk chocolate….you won’t know what has hit you.
Ah, not every American loves Hershey’s. Some do, some like other kinds of chocolate. It’s not really fair to generalize to that degree. 🙂
Ghirardelli’s is America’s real “Great American Chocolate Bar” I’m surprised no else has mentioned that yet.
…are positively vile. And that’s coming from someone who is able to enjoy 85% pure chocolate, and eats 99% pure as a cough supressant every winter (very effective BTW), so I’am quite accustomed to bitter, thank you. I’ve been lucky enough to travel fairly widely and have had sweets form Europe, Asia, the Middle East, as well as home – there’s always something slightly different, but never anything rank. A Hershey’s Kiss is kind of like putting a smelly sock in your mouth.
Ooh, thanks for the cough suppressant tip, I’ll look into it next time I have a cough 🙂
I’m American, I love chocolate, and I agree that Hershey’s tastes like vomit. I don’t understand its popularity. My mother has claimed she can’t taste a difference between Hershey’s and Godiva but I say she’s crazy! My favorite chocolate is Tropical Source. It’s smooth and delicious without a hint of bile.
Yes I just google’d “hershey’s taste like vomit” to see if there was anyone who felt the same as me, yep it taste just like what Tony said up there, havent tasted Cadbury, but I strongly believe it’s alot better.
Hilarious!
I’d give Hershey 3 stars out of 5…..
I’m American. I’ll never forget the first time I took a Hershey Bar over to Wales for my boyfriend to try… it was HILARIOUS!~~ He put it in his mouth and then ran over to spit it out in the trash and told me it tasted like dog’s vomit! I cracked up! I thought he was joking! Then I researched how they make the chocolate and how they use butyric acid to make it. Well, Butyric acid is one of the ingredients in Vomit, Sour Milk, etc…. so of course it’s similar in scent/taste. However, to us American’s we never associated the Butyric acid in the chocolate bar with the butyric acid in vomit, but I guess to someone who’s never had a candy bar with butyric acid in it would! Butyric acid is used (I believe) as a preservative. Too bad it’s distinct scent and flavor repulses those of you who are not used to it being in chocolates! Hershey isn’t the only company by the way that uses it, just the first and I believe they create it in a very natural way (letting the milk go funky) but in a sterile process. Anyhow, this is hilarious to me. My favorite Chocolate however is still the American version of Cadbury. The UK version tastes different to me.
P.S. Have you ever tried Nestle Caramel Treasures (the ones in the purple wrappers) OMG! Amazing! At least the American Version is.
OMFG that is nasty so not eating hershitsy anymore… For, some (better) chocolate try brockman’s ‘truffini’ or terra nostra organic 60%caoco
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT THOUGHT HERSHEYS MILK CHOCOLATE TASTED SOUR. GUESS I WAS WRONG THAT STUFF IS JUST NASTY NO WONDER I PREFERRED THEIR SPECIAL DARK CANDY BARS BETTER WHEN I WAS A KID AND STILL DO. I LIKE DOVE MILK CHOCOLATE THATS MUCH BETTER OR THEIR DARK CHOCOLATE YUMM. NESTLES IS GOOD AND MARS AND LINDT.
A couple of years back, an American colleague of mine brought some hersheys kisses back from holiday and every single person who tried them commented on the vomit flavour. Horrible, horrible chocolate.
Shit! Im not alone hahahaha…
So now I finally know why it tastes so terrible.
The thing that really gets me is that Hershey’s makes another chocolate bar — Hershey’s Symphony — in both a milk chocolate and a version with added toffee chips and almonds. And they are absolutely excellent; they put Cadbury to shame.
And evidently the reason why is that they’re using fresh milk instead of sour. I wonder what regulat Hershey bars and Kisses would be like if they made them properly? Probably like Symphony, which is basically like Swiss milk chocolate. Hershey’s official line on this is the usual corporate twaddle, of course. To quote from their Symphony web page, Hershey’s “has a long history of offering products that let consumers enjoy the multi-dimensional tastes of chocolate”, and the role of Symphony chocolate bars is to “give consumers a smoother, creamier chocolate taste that is truly indulgent.”
Evidently, by that standard, the dimensions of chocolate taste are “vomit flavored” and “chocolate flavored.”
LOL. Quite!
That last sentence really made me laugh.
As I type this, I am in fact eating a Lindt chocolate bunny.
I’m an American, and I’ve never liked Hershey’s signature chocolate bar. It’s somewhat tolerable if there are nuts or something in it to distract from the bad “chocolate” (if you can even call it that), but eaten alone… not great.
It’s just bland. Hershey’s is to chocolate what Kraft Singles are to cheese.
Funny, I just googled “hershey’s tastes like puke” and am amazed that everyone thinks the same. Gag!
I’m so glad they don’t sell hersheys in the UK. Apparently they aren’t allowed to call it chocolate in Europe. My friend gave me some to try and it did taste like vomit – I couldn’t even swallow it!
“Apparently they aren’t allowed to call it chocolate in Europe.”
That’ll be be because of the cocoa content. The EU dictates a minimum cocoa content for chocolate (anything below has to be called “chocolate confection” or similar) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_chocolate#European_Union
On the other hand, many British and European chocolates couldn’t be sold in the United States as chocolate, because the EU allows up to 5% non-cocoa butter fats in chocolate, whereas this is not allowed in the United States. That’s one of the differences between the British Cadbury milk chocolate bar and the United States Cadbury milk chocolate bar, the latter which is made by Hershey. I think the best tasting Cadbury milk chocolate bar I remember was from about 30 years ago in the United States when it was made in Canada and distributed by Schweppes.
I forgot to click “Notify me of new comments via e-mail”. I hope doing it now applies to my main comment above, also.
Aha! I’ve heard many a complaint that UK cadbury chocolate is “waxy”. I’m not sure what the marketing rules are here in Australia, but Cadbury’s chocolate here certainly contains some milk fat as they use whole milk.
Of course Cadbary contains milk fat–it’s called Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, and the like all milk chocolate. contains milk fat. The difference I was referring to is that British Cadbury contains, under the European rules for chocolate, up to 5% non-cocao vegetable fat, in this case, palm or palm kernel oil, I believe. That makes it a bit waxier. I personally believe that Hershey’s chocolate is a little more sour now than it used to be decades ago–they have opened new factories with new equipment and the product from those factories may be slightly different than when it was all made in the original factory. I think currently my favorite chocolate is Godiva, both the 31% cocoa solids version and lighter more carmel tasting version. Black and Green organic milk chocolate with 34% cocoa is pretty good, with a somewhat heavier flavor. I used to like to Perugina milk chocolate, from Italy, before Nestlé took it over and made it a little more nondescript. I don’t even see it around anymore in the supermarket. The American chocolate Ghiradelli isn’t bad, but for some reason I don’t feel good after I eat it.
Ah okay, I was a bit confused, but I thought maybe it was standard to use skim milk powder or something.
I am the rare American who has thought all my life that Hershey’s chocolate tasted like vomit. I never knew there were others, I now I learn there’s an entire continent. Vindication!
I think the new ‘smoother and creamier’ kisses taste TERRIBLE.
no way – the new ones are so much BETTER! never ate the old ones because they tasted awful. can’t get enough of the smooth and creamy ones!
I AGREE SYMPHONY CHOCOLATE IS GOOD!!
Incredible. A long while back I suffered the flavour of Hershey’s ‘chocolate’ myself, and my immediate thought was ‘My gosh. Literally everything made on the continent of North America must taste like regurgitated wax. they must be so desensitised to flavour and texture of any kind that only the most intense, gag reflex inducing shock registers.’
I didn’t think for a moment that I’d have just been unlucky enough to taste only the three particular items that suffer this bizarre and offensive quirk of flavouring… Budweiser, Hersheys, and a ‘Canadian Cheddar’, I forget the specific brand.
But lo, I have since sampled a range of products from across the pond, none of which are subject to this bile tainted nonsense. I can’t understand why on earth you would choose to flavour a product in this manner…
Is beer not bad enough when it comes back up that you have to pre-flavour it with stomach acid?
Who even believes that chocolate lends itself to acidic sharpness, let alone what claims to be CREAMy.. MILK chocolate?!
The cheese is almost understandable.. Sure, a good, strong, crumbly cheddar should have a sharp tang to it, but even this logic is undermined by one simple fact. It Tastes.. Like… VOMIT!?!?!?
How do they sell this rubbish?
Picture this : our workplace.
Next, boss returns from annual trip to the States with hands full with Jelly Beans and a Hershey’s bar.
The jelly beans are a delicious, totally addictive forgone conclusion.
The chocolate bar leaves the ‘actual’ taste of vomit in the mouths of 3out of 4 in the office.
‘Actual’ vomit. VOMIT?!? What the hell?!? No offense to the boss but I wouldn’t feed a beggar with a deathwish with this stuff!
(Thanks for the explanation above btw!)
Tangent: Jelly Belly put out a special Harry Potter collection of jelly beans that included a Vomit-flavored jelly bean. I tasted one by accident. It was very gross and very realistic.
This is GREAT!! Although, I’ve always found Hershey’s to smell (obviously, I’ve never tasted it…) like poop.
My theory was proven, by another (3rd, besides this) posting on the smell of Hershey’s. On ‘Yahoo! Answers’ I believe, a person noted how when they rub behind their ears; their finger smells like Hershey’s chocolate?!? This is a result of the nasty bacteria which breed, multiply and fester there…(And smell a lot more like $hit to me, than chocolate!) A la, toe-jam or belly-button lint…
So, it all makes sense now. My hypothesis: If sour-rotting-human-bacteria smells like Hershey’s Chocolate, then Hershey’s Chocolate smells like $hit!!!
what u r wierd hershey i great!! (i am amercian)
Monica, have you ever tried Swiss or Belgium chocolate? Maybe Lindt? Once you do you will realize that Hershey’s is not good to say the least.
It is sad to see that people who are clearly not able to taste the ‘vomit’ flavour in Hershey’s chocolate find it necessary to be abusive to the many who clearly can taste it.
We used to do a test in Biology at school when we studied genetics. We were all given a substance to put on our tongues which, to some, tasted very bitter and quite nasty, but had no taste at all to others. No in-betweens. Some didn’t have the gene for it, some did.
Maybe those without certain genes in their genetic make-up simply cannot detect the chemical in Hershey’s which tastes like vomit to those who have those genes. If so,they are lucky if they are chocolate lovers and eat Hershey’s.
All of us in our family, independently of each other, very clearly noticed this unpleasant ‘vomit’ after-taste whilst eating Hershey’s chocolate bars that my wife brought back from a holiday in America.
No anti-American bias; no childish grumbling; just a simple observation – to us, Hershey’s has a very unpleasant after-taste.
Horses for courses. Make of it what you will.
I just tasted herseys kisses for the first time.
(brought back from america as a gift)
.
Awww…. first thing I have done is… google… hersheys taste like vomit
Disguisting…. how can this be sold as chocolate.
I just had some Hershey’s a American collegue of mine brought back from a trip back home. The after taste in my mind was like a pooey vomit flavour. So I googled it! Apparently I’m not alone in my thinking…
I also tried a twinkie, never again. Horrid.
The funniest thing about all this is that you’re all overstating the case. Vomit? Really?
Perhaps the people tasting vomit have a defective gene? Ever consider that, Albert “Floppyballs” Einstein?
Yes. I’m sure you’re right. America is the true master Aryan race with superior genes, everyone else on the planet (including the birthplaces of chocolate) has a defective “Hersheys-vomit-sensitivity” gene.
BTW I do realise that I am 3 years late with this reply, but I was looking forward to trying a Hershey’s bar this afternoon. Unwrapped it. Put one bite in my mouth. PUKE! I ran to the garbage bin to spit that shite out – I immediately checked the use-by date because I could clearly taste some spoilt milk. I had to actually look for the ingredients which were conveniently hidden away behind a massive flap at the back of the bar. No wonder those Hershey-corporate douchebags seem to be emberassed to even display the bile that they put into these… these things.
I live in Australia and was naive enough to think that Americans, being the fathers of most modern junk food would have exceptional junk food. Boy was I wrong.
I was also looking forward to trying a Twinkie after hearing that the company making them recently got re-acquired and they will be available to buy once more. Yeah…. I think I’m gonna take a rain-check on that.
Seriously, someone needs to drop some care packages on the US – I can already see it now: kids eyes lighting up as they taste pure, unadalterated cocoa chocolate. Crates of Swiss, Russian and Korean chocolate bars being parachuted from foreign military aircraft.
P.S. I am soooo glad they don’t sell these here.
P.P.S. PRPG or whatever it is, does NOT sound like something which should be written on the back of a food wrapper.
Luckily, I only had a Hershey’s kiss — not a whole bar — to find out that it their chocolate tasted like vomit. Kiss of death. It’s ridiculous, the acidity scrapes at the back of your throat. I can’t believe the FDA allows it.
I LOLed hard at this! As for the FDA, I don’t what they administration they preside over, but the ‘F’ in that name should stand for something else. Because the stuff they approve is second only to dog-crap. Right, from now on, they will be known as the ‘Fecal Dirt Administration’ to me. Imma actually go and buy another H-bar to send to my brother who is currently overseas. I tried to tell him that the H-Milk Chocolate Bars are are runny ass juice – he doesn’t believe me. Yet.
Actually, if Hersheys keep hitting sales record (supposedly), perhaps people’s sense of humour can explain what science yet cannot. After all, I am sending my brother a Hershey bar not just as evidence of its foul taste, but as a joke as well. Perhaps these things spike records during the holiday seasons? Y’know the feeling when your distant relatives’ kids have driven you insane on Christmas? Here kids, have a Hershey bar! Or when those pesky trick-or-treaters just keep coming back for more candy and you’re cheap enough as it is? Here you go fellas, here’s some Hershey Kisses for your troubles!
And don;t get me started on April Fools, I think I may just end up buying these things to give out to people that have never tasted them before on April 1st just to see their faces LOL.
No one is overstating anything. It’s an opinion, you have plenty of those, I know. As I’ve discovered, it’s a fact that Hershey’s is made from soured milk (Butyric acid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric_acid).
I quote “Butyric acid is found in butter, parmesan cheese, vomit, and as a product of anaerobic fermentation (including in the colon and as body odor). It has an unpleasant smell and acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste (similar to ether). It can be detected by mammals with good scent detection abilities (such as dogs) at 10 ppb, whereas humans can detect it in concentrations above 10 ppm.”
So that would completely explain why various people ended up on this blog by Googling something along the lines of “Why does Hershey’s taste like vomit?”. It’s likely if you’ve grown up in American you’d be acclimatized and used to the taste, and wouldn’t notice. Same goes for some bread in Asia, in the Philippines bread often tastes sweet. But they don’t detect that. We’re acclimatized to different things.
This isn’t an anti-American propaganda campaign, it’s chocolate.
I’m curious about this acclimatization… Growing up in America, I loved Hershey’s milk chocolate. Why didn’t my very first bite taste as nasty as your first bite? Can you explain that?
In any case, since I had my first Hershey’s Symphony (real milk chocolate) the standard Hershey’s bar /has/ tasted nasty to me. The thing is, I’ve had other ‘real’ milk chocolate before, such as Lindt truffles and Troblodone (best stuff ever). They didn’t wake me up.
Hehe. Its ‘Toblerone’ 🙂
Perhaps you were just too young too remember and the trauma has now worn off?
Nothing is being exaggerated when posters say this:
It tastes like vomit.
That tang you get at the back of the mouth once the initial sweetness has subsided literally tastes like your mouth after two many pints, when you bile a little in your mouth.
Acidic. And so chalky. I can’t see how this could be considered a treat.
Give me Lindt, Leonidas or Galaxy any day of the week.
Chocolate should be made with milk or cream, not cottage cheese!
“I can’t see how this could be considered a treat.”
Indeed, if I have kids one day, I might force them to eat a Hershey’s Kiss as punishment for bad behaviour.
YES! LINDT!! From the sounds of it, Galaxy sounds like a good chocolate, but I don’t think we have it here in Aus. Is it a UK or US chocolate?
I actually thought the bar I’d purchased was past it’s best before date. It’s revolting even my kids said it smells and tastes like vomit. I’ve tried a few different types of Chocolate from the U.S and not one of them beat good old Dairy Milk. I’ll stick to UK and Belgian Chocolate.
LOL, same thing happened to me! I had to check and re-check the expiry date. My next thought was: “Use-by date’s fine… Chocolate tastes spoilt (not sour, mind you, spoilt as in rotting)”.
Whatevever they’re doing over there at Hersheys to sour their milk, it ain’t working like they planned. Butyric acid should probably be used in cheeses and similar foods to stave of spoilage. Chocolate is not a similar food to cheese. Hersheys seems to employ a very mathematical approach to food economics where simply adding something… anything to preserve a food somehow justifies making it taste like puke/spoilt milk. Using this logic, they could just as easily use sea salt and red chilli peppers to pickle their chocolate the same way kimchi is pickled. Crap, I may have just given them an idea!
I have been eating Hershey’s chocolate all of my life. It’s what I filled my kids and grandkids Easter baskets with. Some other chocolates use carob, fake chocolate that impedes melting. I have a carob tree in my front yard and it grows beans that are long and have peas inside. When they are ripe and fall to the ground and you break them open and smell them, they smell like vomit. Once when I bought another brand “chocolate bunnies” for Easter, one got under the couch and when discovered several months later in the summer, it wasn’t even melted. But now the so called “Milk Chocolate Hershey bar is the nastiest, bitter tasting, black like bitter-sweet chocolate. I can’t discribe it, but I would almost swear that there is some kind of chilis in it. It is vile. I just filled a basket for a sick friend, and it had many Hershery chocolate items in it. I hope she doesn’t eat them as it will probably make her sicker. I feel Hershey, once a beloved American product, has let all of us who were biased towards Hershey’s, down,and surprised and confused, and bewildered. I am now looking for a milk chocolate that still has only cocoa butter, and not sunflower oil, or worse,[grease], and has pure 100% rich whole, fresh, milk. I see Hershey owns a lot of chocolate products that we think of as made by companies in the UK, and other foreign countries.
Whoah, this comment actually surprised me somewhat. You mean to tell me that the Chocolate Formerly Known As Hersheys Milk Chococalte actually used to taste different once? If so, I can understand that the radical corporatisation of the American foodosphere is surely to blame. I just can’t believe that it may have tasted… good before… :S Blows my mind…
They don’t use sour milk, they use butyric acid itself. It was added during the war (II), due to a shortage of milk, to the milk to extend the time the milk would be fresh. (Most of the milk was given to the soldiers). This chocolate was sent to the troops also. After the war, it was discovered that people actually enjoyed the sour taste added to the chocolate, and hershey’s continued to add butyric acid to their chocolate. European chocolates, such as nestle, does not contain butyric acid, and therefore has no sour flavor. It also usually contains much less cocoa powder, and the flavor of the milk or sweetened condensed milk comes through much stronger than the chocolate. The texture is also much softer, due to a reduced amount of cocoa butter in some cases. Some people like it, some people don’t. People are picky about chocolate because it is a comfort food.
If sour milk was the only problem with Hershey’s chocolate, I could live with it. But Hershey’s now has an unidentifyable smell and look, once you bite into it, that is putrid. it does not look, taste, feel in the mouth, like the chocolate bars I used to love. Sometimes, while shopping for groceries, I would indulge in a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar. Years ago my sister stopped eating Hershey’s chocolate. She said she didn’t feel good after eating it. But I still ate it until sometime this year. Now it is off my list of feel good comfort food.
Hershey’s once tasted never forgotten!
The only chocolate I’ve ever tasted that I’ve spat out The only chocolate I’ve ever eaten only once.
The only chocolate I that no one I know likes.
The Chocolate on Reeses peanut butter cups is just bland, Hershey’s should not be described as chocolate, but as a vomit flavoured candy bar!
I’m used to the common sweet milk and bitter dark chocolate flavors commonly found in Europe. First time I sampled a Hershey’s bar was in Korea. It tasted spoiled and I threw it away.
Now I’m in the US, the second attempt didn’t fare any better. Hershey’s truly tastes like vomit!
I tried the “dark” version of a standard Hershey bar, it was mildly better than the “milk” version, but they DARE call that Dark chocolate? what an insult…it doesn’t even list the cocoa percentage on the ingredients list (probably because they forgot to put any in) Give me a bar of Green and Blacks or Lindt 72% any day!
“Give me a bar of Green and Blacks or Lindt 72% any day!”. Hear, hear, I think 72% Lindt is even named “Perfection” or something along those lines. It’s a Godsend.
Interesting fact: The Hersheys bar that I bought today was from Korean grocer LOL. What the hell are those people doing?! They have some of the sweetest, most innovative and just plain delicious candy in the world – they sell Hersheys?!!
puke mixed with cocoa powder that hasn’t dissolved.
I completely agree that it’s an acquired taste. I’m Irish and first tried Hershey’s when a relative brought it back after visiting the US and positively despised the stuff. However, a short while later when I tried it again, I found myself becoming quite fond of the taste.
It’s not fair to say that ‘Cadburys/Milka/Nestle etc.’ are the superior chocolate maker. If us Europeans has been brought up on Hershey’s we probably wouldn’t even notice the difference.
I also love the theory that was mentioned above about the soldiers during WWII having rations of Hershey’s chocolate, and the thought that it was soured to prevent it from getting stolen. I’d never thought about it that way before but I think you could be very right 🙂
YUCK HERSHEYS SOUR MILK CHOCOLATE. LINDT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE BAR YUMMMM!!!! OR NESTLE IS GOOD.DOVE YUMM. HERSHEYS SYMPHONY THATS AWESOME.CADBURY IS GOOD. OR HERSHEYS POT OF GOLD CHOCOLATES ARE GOOD. I LIKE MILK CHOCOLATE AND DARK CHOCOLATE AND WHITE CHOCOLATE. SKORE ENGLISH TOFFEE CANDY BARS YUMM. HEATH BARS ARE OK BUT SKORE ARE BETTER. HOW BOUT MOUNDS OR ALMOND JOY YUMM.REMEMBER MARATHON CANDY BARS FROM THE 70S? CHOCOLATE DIPPED PRETZELS ARE GOOD. DONT LIKE CHOCOLATE CAKE THOUGH. FRENCH SILK PIE YUMM.THEY EVEN HAVE FUDGE FLAVORED SODA-/ GROSS!!! TRIED A DEEP FRIED MILKY WAY AT MN. STATE FAIR LAST SUMMER THAT WAS GOOD BUT VERYYYY FATTENING.DONT LIKE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM MUCH EXCEPT SOFT SERVE KIND.CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES OH YEAH!!! BROWNIES YUMM!!!!
LMFAO! Gathering from this random arrangement of letters, I gather you like chocolate. A lot.
I’ve heard about this before. For what it’s worth, post-childhood, this yank no longer really consumes Hershey’s in anything but s’mores, and as a big international grocery store aficionado, the English (and other European) chocolate that I’ve had clearly, clearly tastes superior. I like Aero bars a lot 🙂
Well, I had some Hershey’s chocolate today. I never really liked Hershey’s, I wouldn’t go far to say it tastes like vomit. It had a weird smell, I’ll admit that much, but the taste, it’s more like an, ‘artificial chocolate taste.’ Probably most americans like it, because about 90% of the chocolate there is made with hershey’s so it grows on people. But I personally like Milka’s chocolate. I guess it all depends, I like dove too, because it’s really silky and is what I believe milk chocolate should taste like. We all have preferences, and chocolate since it’s the practically the most loved candy in the world, there’s defiantly high competition, and demands.
“Give me a hershey bar”, said gene hackman in FC2. Always wanted to try it – bought a bar a hersheys almond bar from asda in the uk fr 1.50 (ouch expensive!) The smell – tried to locate a dead rat or something in the kitchen, or dog poo – ate the chocolate and oh! Odd – nasty – tried again – so that’s the smell. Sick tasting – tried again and gave up – awful – maybe off? Wife found it – told me later – tastes like vomit. Now I’m on the net and so there’s a hershey’s tastes like vomit community. Hilarious. Still gene hackman was stoned out of his mind in that film. Odd thing is I like the peanut butter cups which have been sold in the UK for years. The chocolate is ordinary but the peanut butter is nice. I’m no fan of cadbury – though would eat any day over hersheys. galaxy is nice – toblerone, milka in fact just about any european chocolate – and of course belgian is the best.
Awwww, I liked Hershey’s when I was a kid, even though it left a weird sour after taste in my mouth… Oh well, try swiss chocolate, or the japanese meiji chocolate. I find that korea/japan candy/chocolate tastes really nice and swissland’s chocolate is the best!
Damn straight Japanese/Korean candy FTW! You have taste! I think we should admit that Hersheys seems to have had a rather utilitarian history and the chocolate recipe itself was made with some grand purpose in mind LOL. Unlike Swiss or Belgian chocolate which are definitely seen as a luxury item, Hersheys has a very odd recipe which implies that it has an odd purpose, probably having nothing to do with fulfilling luxury indulgences.
Another thing to think about is that the US does have a hu~~ge gap between its rich and its poor; between it’s backwards and its refined. To put it another way, it is a land of obvious contrasts. As such, there are people that see something delicious as Baltimore crabs, homemade chocolate from a specialty store, or sushi; and there are those that sincerely see ‘delicious’ as cheese steaks, ‘heartstoppers’, and…. Hershey bars. Interesting country to say the least, especially compared to nations such as Switzerland, Japan and Australia, where, although the average wage may be lower in some areas than it is in the US and we are taxed to the hilt, we have a more even distribution of wealth and a more egalitarian social model overall amongst the population. Just something to think about when you are in a country where bad-tasting candy does not seem to exist – this is most likely linked to, not just corporate models, but the society’s income distribution.
Oddly enough, Russia has quite a bad distribution of wealth relative to America, yet its Chocolate and candy overall taste much better, and is much more natural/simpler than American candy. That’s more a question of tradition, left over from the socio-economically egalitarian Soviet Union.
As a sidenote, I’m not trying to offend Americans. You guys do have to admit that a lack of a decent safety net and free (decent) education are pretty much the reason you have a state like California, with huge billagio estates zoned relatively near to urban ratholes with daily shootings.
I ended up here because wondering anyone feel the same like me or not.. Finally some people said like a vomit as I thought..
I prefer Meiji Melty Kiss, Lindt, Rocher, or Dove, but not Hershey’s Milk Chocolate…
Ree se’s taste good tho.. but Japanese and Swiss made are better…
Only Hershey’s product which taste and smell like vomit..
Poor quality chocolate. Just got a bar given to me in Australia as a gift from the US. Taste and smells like spew. I thought it was special and was going to save the dam thing. Even a freddo frog tastes 99 times better.
All you limeys and english rednecks (aussies) don’t know what you’re talking about! English and ausssie worst in the world!
What’s an “English redneck” I myself am British and who the fuck are you to say us British (I’m English- from England) are the worst in the world? Any evidence? Us British make the best chocolate, don’t ever put nestle, galaxy or cadbury in your mouth ever again. Stupid chav.
It would be nice to get the name of said confectionery lol. Otherwise it sounds like you are generalising that Australian chocolate is just bad overall and tastes bad.
Even I’m not so daft as to claim that American chocolate bars all generally taste like crapmixed with puke. Let’s not forget that the US of A gave us Mars, Snickers and Bounty.
OMG – We thought that the chocolate was off – just about to take it back to ASDA and complain about selling rancid chocolate!
I spotted a bar of hershey’s in ASDA (where i go to buy food to smuggle into the nearby, extremely-overpriced-food cinema) and bought it out of curiosity.
After being told how bad it was by some friends that have tried it in america, I was expecting something bad, but at least something remotely edible.
I started to eat a bit of it and was at first pleasantly surprised that it tasted of the low quality but nostalgic chocolate gold coins you get at Christmas.
This stuff has a nasty sting towards the end. It lulls you into a false sense of security to the point where you enjoy it before the acidic vomit taste comes on with no prior warning.
I thought ‘I’ll Google ”Hershey’s vomit” later’, thinking perhaps it was a bad batch, but found this page. Very weird that this stuff can turn a profit. My sister even thought it was some kind of prank chocolate
Christ almighty! I just had the doubtable pleasure to “enjoy” a Hershley´s Milk Chocolate bar. Indeed the most disgusting choci I ever had in my 42 years. It tastes like a sweet sour mixture of vomit and parmesan cheese and my first reflex was to spit it out. I was so repelled by that taste that I ended up googling, wondering if I was the only one to notice that there was something very strange to that ahm “chocolate”.
LMAO! LoL, me too! My first reflex was to spit it out as well, followed by 2 solid minutes of mouth washing/gargling. Afterwards I had 2 different types of Lindt chocolate (one dark) and 2 cups of tea.
This is seriously some bizzarely bad “chocolate” and living in Aus. I’ve tasted vegemite, lol!
Also, the chocolate is black. Not milk chocolate color. they call it milk chocolate but it is all the same. My fovorite chocolate for all my life. Not anymore….
I’m an american. I’ve been awakened to the fact that Hershey’s chocolate tastes like vomit. It’s like Plato’s allegory of the cave. Hershey’s isn’t even a shadow of a chocolate. I’ve come out of the cave. I’ve tasted some damn fine chocolate and now Hershey’s is puke.
I also found this page after buying a hershey’s milk chocolate bar and getting a nasty surpirse as it tasted like parmesan cheese. Weird thing is, I’ve always loved Hershey’s – i’ve previously eaten the cookies and cream, milk chocolate and almond, and hershey’s kisses types and NEVER noticed the cheesey/vomit-like taste before. I also tend to read the labels, and never noticed the PGPR additive before today – is it possible this is adding to the strength of the vomit taste? I am very tempted to call the company, it’s only been a few months since I last had Hershey’s kisses and i’m sure they never tasted this bad
Just got back from US and at the airport we bought some miniatures because Hersheys is a famous brand and not available in the UK. The crisped rice & peanut ones are fine… then I tried Milk Chocolate and I had to spit it out. It absolutely, positively tastes like vom! I thought it was a bad batch so thought id google hersheys and vomit to see if there had been some sick related contamination controversy and low and behold found this site! How can anyone say it is an overstatement when so many unconnected people from all over have been so driven by the poor taste to search ‘Hersheys tastes like vomit’?
In reply to EmmaCantFly:
Of course, all the many people who, having found Hershey’s tastes unpleasant, have gone to the trouble to search for a web forum (as I did before posting my own first comment on this site) would not have even found the site if they had not first had the ‘vomit shock’!.
I love chocolate, far too much for my own good, and without wishing to damage the sensitivities of anyone who doesn’t react to the ‘vomity’ taste, I would just say to them; ‘you are very lucky, and I am happy that you can include Hershey’s in your list of good chocolate’.
But please do not be unpleasant to people like myself who can indeed detect the taste of vomit in Hershey’s, and had originally asked themselves the question ‘is it just me?’ and discovered by finding this site that it isn’t ‘just me’; but many others, totally independently of me, that have received the very same shock when tasting Hershey’s.
So, you lucky old EmmaCantFly, carry on enjoying Hershey’s, and perhaps just have a little pity for those of us who CAN taste the vomit, and for whom Hershey’s is definitely off the chocolate list.
Terry M
It can hardly be said that we “went to the trouble” to find this forum. In my case, the taste of what should’ve been a soft, pleasant chocolatey treat shocked me enough to go online and out of sheer curiousity type “hershey chocolate taste bad”. After that, it was really just a matter of clicking on the first link that came up on the first page of the search LOL!
I totally agree aboot everything else, though. I think the global population deserves at least some sympathy from the people of the US for discovering the taste of Cthulu, otherwise known as Hersheys M.C. Bar.
As for the strange “acclimatization” theory, it is just that, a theory. How else can you explain chocolate, a universally loved dessert around the world, and everyone but a small number of Americans claim that “we’re just not eating it right”, or “you have to start eating it at an early age to fully appreciate the vomity goodness”. Give me a break, this isn’t vintage gin.
All big corperations in America do not care what anybody thinks, as long as we keep buying their products. Even if the hershey’s chocolate tasts like puke. It’s only when we stop buying the quick impulse chocolate bar, that they will stop making profits. Many people may lose there jobs, but not all of the job losses would be in America, as Mexico now makes our past beloved Hershey’s bar. Light bulbs that don’t contain murcury are on their way out. Soon, we will have no chioce except to buy mercury light bulbs. And don’t get me started on food genetically grown and literlly shoved down our throats. Look for it on the label, now they have changed the wording from corn syrup to something else. Check it out.
Haha. I bought a bag of Hershey’s Kisses from ASDA in the UK and tried one earlier, for a second I could taste the cocoa before my mouth was filled with a vomit like taste that caught in my nose too. I was going to take the chocolates back to ASDA as I thought they must have gone off until I googled “Hershey’s tastes like sick”. It’s unbelievable that some people can’t taste the acidic vomit taste of this so-called chocolate. It’s absolutely disgusting and I can’t believe that people buy and enjoy this shite. I still feel sick now and I’ve used mouthwash, had a strong coffee and half a packet of mints! Needless to say I will never be buying Hershey’s again and hope very much that they don’t take over Cadbury’s
I agree to the fullest! Hersey’s does taste like vomit, and I so regret tasting it a few years back.
The best chocolate is made in europe.
Hmmm.. I live in the Netherlands and just came across hershey- bars for the first time ever.. Heard of it on tv, never tried. If anything, i would say that it tastes sweeter (more sugar) than the european chocolate (and i leave out cadbury, because that is VERY sweet, and i don’t think it has much quality to it). I openend the bar after reading this, but i dont’t smell or taste vomit… I do think i prefer Swiss or Belgian chocolate though.
Hersheys stopped using cocoa butter about a decade ago….and substituted it with vegetable oil. It wasnt bad when I was a kid….now its just vile. I dont buy their chocolate anymore….I stick to Mars.
Had the “pleasure” of receiving 2 small bonbonniere full of Hershey’s kisses at a wedding. Was really chuffed and put in on the kitchen counter for my husband to try as it was a novelty to us. Needless to say, seconds after swallowing one we both looked at each other and could almost read each others minds by the expression on our faces! I even (unkindly) asked myself if my friend had been cheap and perhaps bought chocolates past their due by date. I’m glad I found this thread. Dog’s vomit is a great way to sum up the flavour. Being ‘ethnic’ and growing up in Australia, I have sampled and loved many, many sweets from all over the world, and wouldn’t say that my tastebuds have been “accustomed” to anything. There is no doubt that Hershey’s tastes off/sour and the ingredients speak for themselves. Lcuky for those who cannot detect it and enjoy it. Keep enjoying it for the rest of us!
My friend loves it for some reason and brought back heaps of kisses and mini bars from the US.. she gave me a bag last night.. Ugh.. i already didn’t like it from last time she got some.. now i have all this bad chocolate to deal with
it’s soo gross!!
Give me Lindt any day!! or Cadburys!!
Just chuck it.
Life’s too short to eat vomit-flavoured chocolate. “Vomelate”?
THX its not just me….. It really tastes like the day after a wild night out…..
Hershey’s milk chocolate truly is abominable. I live in Sweden and a year ago or so I bought myself a bar from a Swedish retailer who specialices in importing mainly Brittish but also some Amercan candy and food.
Previous to this event, I had allready tasted Hershey’s cookies and cream which I found was a perfectly okay, so naturally I was not expecting that it’d turn out that their milk chocolate would be so bad.
It was the worst chocolate I’d ever tasted in my entire life. It was vile. I can not even begin to understand how people can actually eat that so called chocolate on a regular basis. It baffels me. It’s absolutely horrible and I never wish to eat it ever again.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who feels that way
LOL I’m especially sad for any Europeans that had the ‘pleasure’ of trying this stuff. As a Russian, you have my sympathy.
The first time I tasted a Hershey’s Kiss, I brought it back to the shop and complained that there was something badly wrong. I got my money back, but later when I tried another Kiss I realized that this was how they were supposed to taste.
Some Hershey’s is not bad, Symphony is one, but the milk chocolate is congealed bile juice! Also note that the Cadbury’s chocolate in the USA is made by Hershey’s and it’s pretty much the same as the UK variety, plus it’s not expensive. So American’s at least have a choice now.
Being American and an east-coaster at that, I grew up thinking chocolate = Hershey.
Subsequently, I also grew up thinking I hated chocolate, or “solid chocolate” as I called it, since the only chocolate products I do like have some type of filling. (See: anything Mars makes, except twix, the US who mars bar, and the UK mars bar. Cookie bars suck, the US Mars bar – now snickers almond – is unholy and the UK Mars bar is just a less malty US Milky Way.) What was I talking about? Oh yes – Hershey is gross. Super ick.
PS to those who said the “crispy rice” – aka krakel – bars are fine-tasting, it is because Hershey has been slowly replacing their milk chocolate with mockolate for a number of years. I’ll give Hershey this one though: their mockolate is better than a lot of other company’s real chocolate. (AHEM, nestle)
yes nestle have a lot to answer for in the 80s when they they took over rountrees of york they destroyed Yorkie bars ,, they never tasted the same after the swiss company took over, they took on a kind of watered down taste that they didnt have befor and i have been sad ever since they were my fav` bar.
(although they still taste better than hershey bars) .. YaK!
I’m an American and whenever I eat a Hershey’s chocolate bar I don’t notice anything weird. I’m trying to understand this though.
Do you guys ever use butter milk in sweet desserts? Is it like that? That’s the only thing I can think of when someone talks about old milk used in food. I personally like the taste of butter milk in baked goods. Is this an American thing too?
Hello Sarah,
There is nothing at all subtle about the nastiness and vomit-flavour of Hershey’s to those whose taste buds respond to the taste in this way. It really is NASTY, and it really tastes like vomit.
As I have said in a previous post, my genetics studies at school many, many moons ago, included a practical test in which all of the class were invited to sample a drop of some liquid on our tongues, and respond to it.
Quite a few of the class tasted in the drop a very unpleasant, bitter taste, whilst the rest of the class tasted nothing; just as if it was water. No in-betweens.
This test was designed to show that some of the class had in their bodies a certain gene which the others did not.
I reckon that is what we are seeing here. We are seeing the ‘Hershey’s is Horrible’ gene in action. If you don’t have it, count yourselves lucky and keep on enjoying Hershey’s chocolate.
If not, try other makes of chocolate. I particularly like Cadbury’s milk chocolate, but many others are as good if not better.
Cheers,.
Terry
I work for Hershey & we do use cocoa butter in the Milk Chocolate bar, not sour milk
Lol, right… sure you do.You also use good ol’ Polyglycerol polyricinoleate – just the way mother nature intended!
[Following lifted from Wikipedia:]
PGPR is a yellowish, viscous liquid composed of polyglycerol esters of polycondensed fatty acids from castor oil. It may also be polyglycerol esters of dimerized fatty acids of soybean oil.
[End quote]
Lolwut, castor oil? Isn’t that the stuff that people traditionally force-fed to their kids as punishment and as a health tonic? Kids supposedly deried the taste as it was festy as fuck.
[Following stolen from Wikipedia again:]
Castor oil, when ingested, triggers cramping in the bowel, making it an effective laxative.
[Nice to see you’re thinking about your consumer, Hershey]
Sorry, no disrespect, but you are not the company, and you cannot speak for them. Hersheys milk chocolate bars are dark as dark chocolate, and tastes like it too. There is no sweet milk-like smooth flavor. I am 75 and have bought only Hersheys as a kid and when raising my kids and buying for my grand and great grand kids until I noticed the drastic change.Hersheys is sour not milk sweet smooth that cocoa butter makes. Maybe they put in enough to be able to say they do use it. And by the way, why don’t Hersheys make a statement. Why do you have to speak for them?
With all due respect, why do we need a Hershey’s representative to speak to us about anything? We’ve all seen corporate spokespeople, we know what they’re like, and they are vasty diffferent to what you may have experienced in your youth. As consumers, as internet-users, and as people with some semblance of common sense, we may even know more about what goes into their product, then they do. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that E476, although not having any *immediate* short-term side-effects (see: http://www.foodreactions.org/allergy/additives/400.html), will probably fuck you up somewhat in the long run.
However, I digress, this is about the offensive taste of that glorified stool sample, not about the questionable ethics of Hersheys.
Some fool moved the link – here it is again:
http://www.foodreactions.org/allergy/400.html
I am from Switzerland, and I’m a chocolate addict. I have spent a couple of years in the US, and tried Hershey “supposed good” milk Chocolate. As soon as I unwrapped it, I said it smelled something like cheese… No one seemed to understand what I was talking about. So I tasted. It tasted like cheese… to me. So I gave them swiss chocolate (milk chocolate) and… now they agree with me 😉
I always wondered if i was the only one that couldn’t stand their milk chocolate, The dark chocolate is decent but the milk chocolate makes me sick literally.
I’m another Hershey hater. Brought some to put in the missus’ stockin f
[Ed. Looks like our poster died before he could finish his thought/post]
I just wrote a longish post about this phenomenon based on a lecture from a chocolate material scientist I was at quite a few years ago. Might be of interest to those here!
http://www.israellycool.com/2012/01/05/sour-milk-chocolate/
My wife and I brought some Hershey’s Kisses from Asda here in the UK (owned by U.S. company walmart). We could not even finish one chocolate, and the after taste really did taste like vomit.
Just to be sure it was not only us, I have taken them in to the office that I work today. Nobody seems to want another after the first; in fact not even someone who always seems to like everything he has tried wants another. Hmmm
It has been fun watching peoples expressions change from “yum a nice chocy” to “oh dear no, get it out!”
First time i’ve had this type of chocolate, I automatically thought it tasted like vomit… So I googled and apparently I am not the only one.
I tested it on members of my family and they all agree. Wasn’t expecting this taste, rather disappointed.
well back to British chocolate.
Haha oh deary me. What a freak of a food. Just tried one and was thinking is it just me or does this taste of baby sick? Surely not. How can something that so many people rave about be so god damn yuck! Other people in the office said the same. Had to Google it. Hurlshey’s…
I hear that the formula/recipe for Hershey was changed…I have noticed a difference in the taste…and lately I noticed I have been not feeling well after eating kisses…Anybody else the same way??????
I felt sick but I think that’s the general consensus after trying it, but I think I know what you mean, can’t explain the feeling though.
Umm… why exactly would you feel good after ingesting cocoa, sugar, castor oil and butyric acid all at once?
The wondering of how Americans can tolerate the regular Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, could have answers in HOW it’s eaten. I know from the past I’ve eaten it (in the mini’s form) after a meal… which consists of spicy Cajun, varied asian and Indochina cooking, or a meal with strong flavors… can’t tolerate bland food. It’s ‘budget friendly'(darn close to free on Halloween) and a small little hint of sweet after the meal, but the aftertaste is killed by the prior cuisine.
And secondly, the other times I would eat it is as a snack with some Coca Cola, which has a VERY strong taste. It actually masks the aftertaste and creates an illusion of a creaminess, though there is the handy side effect that it’s an appetite suppressant, and I don’t finish the soda, but had enough for the zing and caffein zing to work instead of waste time on lunch.
I can’t stand the taste of it just on it’s own. Not so much flavour du tossed cookie… but more of like I was eating a block of stale coco flavored wax. Kills a craving to eat, though.
When I have money to gratuitously deposit on real chocolate, I go to small hole in the wall stores that flip fudge. It’s fresh, delicious, and can be eaten in moderation.
Now… if you want the ultimate in ‘odd chocolate experiences’ try bacon chocolate. It’s made by various companies(not Hershey). Some people rave over it, some don’t, some are terrified to try it.
It’s pure whimsey, and shows how contrasting tastes like smokey salty, cocoa, and sweet can combine into a complex yet interesting collection of flavors. Kind of like chocolate covered pretzels or mint jelly on lamb.
There we go. They need to print these instructions as a serving suggestion or as a ‘Hersheys Recipe’ or something on the back of the packet.
Also, this is completely off topic, but while I was surveying thepacket, I noticed that they tried to spread out the chocolate bar as thinly as possible, probably to give it the illusion of size. It’s like the thinnest bar I’ve ever seen, like thick card. Judging from the taste, the feel/size, and the packaging design, they haven’t increased their budget from the time of the Second World War.
I know this is a year later but I actually can explain why Hershey’s sells these really thin bars of chocolate and why people buy them. It’s for the American campfire treat known as Smore’s.
It consists of a graham cracker broke in half, part of a bar of chocolate, and a large marshmallow that has been gently toasted over the fire till the center is gooey and the outside golden brown. You sandwich the the marshmallow and chocolate between the two pieces of cracker resulting in a chewy gooey treat with a hint of chocolate. The Hersey’s bar is most popular for making it because the thinness of the bar will melt when the marshmallow is applied; it adds a moist element as well as making it easier to bite through then a superior thicker chocolate bar that wouldn’t melt as much. I am sure Hershey’s is aware of this since those thin bars also break perfectly to fit corner to corner on a half of graham cracker.
Other then for smore’s, I personally am not a fan of Hershey’s milk chocolate. I prefer their dark chocolate or some of their other varieties if I have anything from their brand. Worst brand of chocolate I’ve had in the US though would have to be Palmer’s; it makes Hershey’s look godly in comparison. Anyway, if you know of another thin but superior chocolate bar to try instead for this treat, please feel free to leave suggestions. 🙂
Thank you for both the educational reply, and for adding some much-appreciated American sanity to this thread. Respect intended.
My father went to a chocolatiering class and he learned all about different types of chocolates. Apparently, Hershey’s uses a preservative in their chocolate that indeed is the flavor of vomit. I am an american, but I won’t touch the stuff!
If one were to say Hershey’s doesn’t taste the same as it did 15 to 20 years ago I would be in agreement. I no longer buy Hershey’s. However saying it taste like vomit IS an exaggeration. I prefer Ghirardelli Chocolate. I have never liked Cadbury. There’s not much chocolate taste to it. Only time I eat Lindt is if someone has given it to me as a gift. It’s okay but I will not buy it. There are others that I have eaten from Europe that are very good and there are some that are a waste of time and money.
To Propergood– I have friends who have visited England who have said that the food there leaves much to be desired.
Its a common misconception Laura. Something as a Brit living in the US, that I have to deal with on an almost daily basis. Along with comments like, “Do you know my Aunt May?” and “Do you know the Queen?” and “Do you all have bad teeth?” and “Do you all drink tea every day?” and “You’d all be speaking German if we hadn’t won the war for you!” etc., etc.
Sadly its a misconception born of both ignorance and a small amount of truth, mostly derived from American tourists who go to the UK and only visit popular tourist locations such as London or Edinburgh and refuse to step outside of their comfort zone. Typically they are shocked when they cannot find their familiar restaurant chains like Arby’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, IHOP, Lone Star, etc., etc. and being none-the-wiser and poorly informed, make one visit to a shoddy pub serving shoddy bar food and suddenly their negative experience translates in to an opinion of the entire United Kingdom that the food is bland or sucks.
Hershey really does taste bad if you weren’t raised on it (which is not to say people can’t grow to accept it).
There is a good historical explanation for this. I wrote about it at length here:
http://www.israellycool.com/2012/01/05/sour-milk-chocolate/
The short answer stems from slightly soured milk being used in the very earliest days of milk chocolate manufacture in the US because of the larger distances from cows to the drying plants where the milk is dried. That’s what America grew to accept as the taste of milk chocolate, and changing it is almost impossible.
It seems to be easier to then like European chocolate if you grew up with American rather than the other way around.
It is not an exaggeration in any way! You have read the thread so I assume you have seen some of the possible explanations. it is arrogant insist that people who hold an opinion different to yours are exaggerating!
I have no knowledge of the OP or any other posters on this thread. I was eating a miniature Hersheys original on my flight home from the US and it tasted like actual vomit, very real and very strong. I genuinely thought that there must have been some cross contamination scandal which is why I googled Hersheys and vomit. Google filled the rest in so it is clearly a regular search topic.
You might not be able to taste it (lucky for you!) but how else can it be explained that so many unconnected people have been compelled to search ‘Hersheys tastes like vomit’?
You drink vomit?
Enough with this “taste like vomit” bs. More like cardboard with weird aftertaste.
Reeses, Cadbury, 3 Musketers, Twix, etc…are plenty good.
Cadbury has a very nice pooey texture and taste. I love it when I need a good pick-me-up in the morning. In fact, everything you listed can be commended for having the taste of congealed poo Twix excluded). If you’re going to denigrade high quality Euro-chocolate with cheaply-made American crap, at least use something viable like Snickers, Mars or Bounty.
I don’t know if you have read all the postings to this thread; if not, I’d advise that you do, as there are many level-headed and honest postings.
I am 66 years old, a retired Englishman who has been lucky enough through my job, to see many and varied corners of this planet.
Ignorant of this web page, I had tried Hershey’s chocolate, and found, as did other members of my family, that the chocolate left a very distinct and unmistakeable after-taste, very akin to that of vomit.
I googled Hershey’s to find out if any others had experienced the unpleasant taste. I found, as you have, that they had.
No, Laura; it is to my taste not an exaggeration but an honest comment. (see my earlier postings for a possible theory which explains why some do, and some don’t, experience that unpleasant taste).
In my many visits to various and many places in the United States, I found a mixture of good and bad in the people, no different to those of us in England.
Also, it is my experience in that in both of our countries there are examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to food.
Terry Meadowcroft
I have always wondered why Hershey bars taste so bad. I described them as sour so I guess I wasn’t too far off. Amazing that one can get to prefer something foul once habituated. Some farmers of old left their butter out to become rancid as they liked the taste.
I just bought my first bar online…. I was looking forward to it, but it really DOES taste like vomit, it’s disgusting. :S Too bad. And I hate it even more, because now, when I have to burp, it tastes like vomit… bluh.
It’s like saying the taste of hops ruins beer, rather than being an acquired taste. The slight sourness actually comes from Butyric Acid, which is also common in Kombucha. Personally I’m used to it, and to my taste chocolate which doesn’t have it can be slightly one dimensional (although sometimes one-dimensional is fine).
BIggest problem with Hershey’s (to me) is the wax-like texture. Anyway it’s the cheapest of the cheap, judging American chocolate by that is like judging English beer by Tesco store brand.
I first tried Hersheys on a trip to the US in 1988. It tasted sour and I assumed it had gone bad and threw it away. 24 years later I just tried another bar and had the same reaction. I love chocalate and have tried cheap and expensive varieties from around the world but so far only Hersheys makes me gag.
I remember being really shocked the first time a friend gave me chocolate from America – I couldn’t believe anyone could enjoy it! I live in the UK and adore both dark and milk chocolate, but all the American chocolate I have ever tried has been awful – compared to British chocolate it’s less cocoa-y, less creamy, and less sweet. British tastes just can’t handle that! I’ve also noticed American chocolate doesn’t melt in the mouth like chocolate from Europe – I wonder if maybe this non-melting quality is intentional and something to do with the warmer temperature in parts of America.
…which is weird given that PGPR is an emulsfier which works to lower the viscosity (thickness factor) of foods.
I had my first Hersey bar from a vending machine at RAF Lakenheath. Despite the name it is actually a US airforce base not far from Cambridge. A friend married to an American officer on the base handed me a bar and I tried it.As most have been saying, it had that characteristic vomit taste about it and I had to spit it. I assumed it was past its expiration but on looking at the date it wasn’t. I then thought maybe being in the vending machine had affected or contaminated the taste. I bought another at a base shop and tried again. If anything, this one was worse so was spat pretty much instantly. Interestingly, my friend’s wife, who is an American, grew up with Hershey bars and loves them. She just cannot taste this acidic, sickly flavour. I suppose it just comes down to what one is used to and I would always favour UK or European chocolate.
The thing is, how many Americans do you see/hear about who have to spit out euro/asian/UK chocolate after putting it in their mouth? This conspiracy goes deeper than we think lol.
I’ve just had this awful experience x
The thing is, that’s not even an exaggeration. My brother got me some from the states along with the cookie bar thingy which I haven’t tried yet, and it’s nice for a bit, but once it has been in your mouth a few seconds, it quite literally tastes like sick. I don’t recommend it. I wondered if I were the only person who thought this because I’d heard that it’s quite nice. I’m glad others have noticed!
Are the same peope who consider this shitcake nice, by any chance Americans? In other words, the people praising Herseheys bars are the same people that will buy this:
http://www.junkfoodblog.com/2006/07/jimmy-dean-chocolate-chip-pancakes.html
And yes, there is a sausage somewhere in there. I mean, as I’ve stated before, the US is a land of contrasts. Very big contrasts indeed.
Horrendous. I’d sooner eat the contents of my anus before having another try at the awful, awful product. Don’t get me wrong, I like my chocolate simple, Galaxy or Cadbury would do just fine, nothing fancy. But Hershey’s, crikey, I wouldn’t force that on people I hate. That’s just too mean.
Phew! I thought it was just me! Same story – friend brought a bag of mini Hershey bars back from the States ….so disappointed….all these names become part of a romantic notion of American life, like a Babe Ruth bar, whatever that is! and I’m just beginning to understand the difference between candy and chocolate which is that candy can be chocolate FLAVOUR but not have any chocolate in it. This must be what Hershey bars are dont you think?
I got my first bar a few months ago and thought “wow.. it kind of smells like the bad chocolate from Christmas calendars which I actually like a little bit, so being the chocoholic I am, I proceeded to stuff a full row in my mouth. bad idea. at first it was just kind of tasteless and oily, but then i chewed it more and I had to spit it out. I then tried it after it was refrigerated and that only got rid of the smell, then I tried it melted and the after taste was horrible!!!
Hershey Cookies and Creme are delicious though 🙂
oh yes i agree, my friend too came back from her holiday to the states with a little pick and mix bag full of totally disgusting sweets and treats including hersheys mini bars (soooo grossss) also them little hersheys kisses thingeys errughh my kids were so grossed out!
right now i am eating a cadbury twirl but my favorite is milk chocolate galaxy bar.
verdict …. american hersheys is rank!
I think the whole Hershey thing comes down to what your used to as food. I’ve been all over the world and food some folks rave about as the best ever I wouldn’t feed a dog as it would be cruel and unusual punishment. Hershey’s doesn’t bother me but I prefer other brands for a variety of reasons. I’ve seen this same discussion about alcohol around the world.
I understand where you’re coming from, but we are talking exclusively about chocolate. Not vegemite-like breakfast spreads, not cereals, not savoury cuisine, not pickles.. you get the idea. We are talking about the universal chocolate bar (junk food included). Having said that, I grew up in Australia, and as one poster already mentioned, we are exposed to food from all around the globe, and our tastes are very global indeed because of this. Despite this fact, I have never felt the urge to spit out chocolate in my life before today. I mean, I actually felt dissapointed that my spare change was wasted on this inedible brown object.
After living in the US for six years I returned to Australia and, upon noticing bags of Hershey’s kisses for sale at our local “international foods shop”, decided to have some fun with people. The first thing I did was offer one to the girl at the checkout register at the very store I bought them from.
I told her they were horrible and she didn’t believe me and munched away for a few seconds saying “It’s not great, but it’s just chocol…… what is that AFTERTASTE?!” before going to get a drink to wash the taste away. Have had similar experiences with every single family member and friend. My mother is a chocolate fiend and even she won’t eat it. The bag is sitting in her kitchen pantry, full except for the few that have been offered as joke chocolate.
LOL the taste will only get more authentic as it ages and spoils!
I recently tried two all american faves (or so the media tells us) Hersheys and Oreo, both i thought were vile not a patch on the british cadbury and bourbon biscuit!, the chocolate was waxy and bile flavoured and the oreo’s were bitter as heck (hey hang on they are supposed to be chocolate flavour!), having said this if u want a damn good hotdog then america is the place to get it, here its just a cheapo frankfurter in a crappy roll! Enuf said cos im ranting now lol.
I have been researching the history of chocolate for the World Chocolate Awards guide gook. So far it seems that the reason for the particular Hershey flavour is as follows: Mr Hershey could not figure out Nestle (and his associates’) secret of how to create milk powder without curdling the milk. So it was that the American public grew accustomed to that particular milk flavour. Nowadays Heshey’s chocolate continues to have an excellent sales record in the States and it would involve far too much risk to update the milk process and hope that the publics’ tastes will follow suit, so they remain loyal to the original flavour profile. The story is a great example of how different perspectives are. Tastebuds can be influenced and become accustomed to flavours over time. Americans could conversley say that Europeans are accustomed to a particular type of milk taste in chocolate. The reason I say “in chocolate”: Europeans enjoy curdled milk but in cases that they expect the taste: is to make scones for instance (England) or natural yoghurt. My Grandfather used to enjoy drinking it beleiveing it was good for his stomach.
lolwut, Which totally makes Hershey a valid chocolate how exactly? While I don’t doubt the information cited by you, the mistakes of the past don’t magically validate the present. The chocolate in question tastes horrible. I know it, you know it – the god-awful taste of HMCB isn’t excused by its history of mistakes/weird reasoning. If that were so, we could excuse what Hitler did because he also had ‘valid reasons’ and thus followed through with his actions and wrongly justified them. And yes, I realise that I just compared the creation of Hersheys chocolate to the Holocaust.
The point I’m making is that it’s slightly twisted logic to make a mistake, claim that that was somehow intended and justified, then purposefully infect everyone with the same thinking, thus indoctrinating in them a love of the Furher, I mean, Hersheys sickly-sweet butyric-bile taste, against their will. If you know that the concept (in this case Hersheys chocolate) is flawed from the beginning and has objectively been proven by an overwhelming majority on the planet as BAD-TASTING, why not at least give these hundreds of millions of chocolate-lovers the benefit of the doubt and try their chocolate, comparing the tastes of your own to their own? Otherwise, you guys in the US just assume that there is some sick genetic-acclimatization counter-argument which explains a truly shitty product. If people do eat Hersheys and not complain it has nothing to do with getting used to the taste, and everything to do with the junk food industry killing everyone’s tastebuds so that they simply aren’t able to register the shocking taste of Hersheys. The chocolate tastes bad. Other people in other countries who eat less junk food and can actually differentiate the taste of what goes in their mouth, can tell that it tastes bad. Americans who aren’t brought up on junk food can also recognise the badness of said chocolate, hence the US posts on this thread that are analogous to their foreign counterparts. Americans that can’t taste anything anymore, however, don’t like the Hersheys taste, they just think it’s ‘alright’. They probably can’t feel it because they wouldn’t feel anything which doesn’t have a ton of MSG, chilli, lard and salt stuffed into it, the obvious effect of a junk food diet. Sadly, Americans as a majority are the latter, and the ones that can recognise what stomach acid with chocolate and castor oil should taste like are far and few in between.
I am an American. I have noticed in the past several years that Hersheys just doesn’t taste like it did when I was a kid (some 45 – 50 years ago). I just made myself some S’mores and the Hersheys tastes so bad and old that I can’t finish even one! So, I went online and found one site reporting that Hersheys changed their ingredients about 4 or 5 years ago, lowering the amount of cocoa butter and substituting it with vegetable oil instead! I also found this site and I can’t agree with you more! It does tastes like vomit! Sadly, I’ve noticed other products that just don’t taste as good as they used to. When are they going to learn that you can’t skimp on quality? They have definitely lost a customer in me!
Myself born and raised in New York used to like it as a kid before i tried other chocolate now I can’t stand Hershey’s chocolate. If it’s late at nite and I need chocolate I can tolerate the not so special dark which has the same taste just not as bad. These days I like my chocolate at 70-85% cocoa. But Hershey’s chocolate is gross.
I have had many different types and styles of chocolate from many regions of the world. Hershey’s for me is the grilled cheese of chocolates, not fancy or refined, just tasty and reminds you of being young. I do not like Lindt, Godiva or Cadbury. They taste like sugary wax to me. For a fine chocolate Vosges is the best mass-produced chocolate I have found.
I excitedly bought a bar of Hershey’s today to try, and had to spit it out! I have never spat out chocolate in my life. It tasted like vomit and cocoa powder. Yikes. So disappointed 😦
Milk Chocolate is one of nastiest candies America makes, but believe me, we make even worse. Everyone in our office eats all the other candy and leaves all the milk chocolate for last. For the full effect, eat dark chocolate followed by milk chocolate. Yep, it really is a little package of hurle.
Just going to say, I bought a Cadbury’s milk chocolate bar in Canada (which is waaay more expensive so I assumed it was imported). I bit into it and it was horrible. It was like a British bar that had got warm, melted and then re-solidified (I assume the gone-off milk thing). I then looked at the packet and it said ‘Made in Toronto’ 😦
So, just because it says ‘Cadbury’s’ doesn’t mean it will be the same chocolate flavour we Brits enjoy
Oh and I find Hershey’s extremely rank, but my (British) partner enjoys it
I will admit that Hershey’s is not my favorite but I don’t think it’s that bad. It might be because I live an hour away from the factory and I grew up on the stuff.
Being an australian and watching so many american shows, I had to succumb to the temptation of buying a hersheys bar from a lolly shop that imports american and european chocolate.I was super excited and when I broke off a piece and put that little sucker in my mouth after the first little chomp, I spat it out straight away.It was like it released a pukeball flavour followed by a laxative taste .A lot of people here say it tastes like puke, and it had that exact distinct taste, but to me it tasted a little like laxettes.After that I had no idea what the fuss about that chocolate was.But in retrospect , I guess when americans tatse vegemite, they gag.I think everybody that has been consuming things from a small age become accustomed to tastes.I did try reeses and although they were not as horrible as hersheys, they were very bland,So are the twizzler sticks that taste like hard bi carbonate soda to me.Give me strawberry licorice any day!
The thing about vegemite, though, is there is a very specific method of eating it, i.e. with margerine/butter, on toast/bread in small amounts. Most importantly: IT ISN’T MARKETED AS A DESSERT. Having said that, I used to think vegemite tastes bad. I now stand corrected, vegemite tastes bitter and fermented. Some of my favourite foods/drinks are bitter, salty fermented, spicy and sour as all hell. Chocolate should not taste like any of the above. Except Lindt chocolate with a tinge of salt, or that Chilli Chocolate – those get a pass.
While I’m writing this, I realise that the sad thing is, chocolate originally came form the Americas, so we should probably all be more humble to the fathers of the cocoa bean. It was, however, a Briton (Cadbury) that came up with the emulsification process and sweetened his chocolate (as with other European countries at the time of Chocolate’s introduction in to the continent). So we shouldn’t be fighting lol!
If my vomit tasted like Hershey’s chocolate, I’d make a practice of vomiting regularly. You all must have some tasty vomit.
As an American who has been here most of my life; I can honestly say that most American chocolate is poorly made garbage. Hershey’s is probably one of the worst offenders. People who think that Hershey’s is even remotely good chocolate, just have really poor taste; or don’t have any idea what chocolate is supposed to taste like. The Cadbury chocolate that is sold here even tastes vile; because it was made here. Having eaten chocolate from other countries; I can honestly say that this has turned me off from eating American chocolate ever again. The only time I can somewhat tolerate it, is when it’s dark chocolate; at least 70% cocoa.
Ok i am an Aussie and I am SORRY in advance if I offend any Americans (we seem to do it well 😉 ),
Ok I have grown up with Cadbury Chocolate it it is ok… Have had lindt and it is amazing, a few other no brand types of chocolate and they were fantastic, so I thought I will have a go and taste Hershey’s chocolate (cookies and cream) and quite frankly i normally do not like white choclate but damn it was good… so a few months later i thought I would brouden my horizons and taste some chocolate kisses and wow were they gross litterealy tasted like vomit and the smell wow.
What is it about Hersheys Cookies and Creme that actually makes it taste good as opposed to the regular Milk Chocolate bar? Do they actually use a conventional preservation process? If so, I commend them on actually going with practicality/taste, rather than patriotism/principle.
I’m Canadian and I’m so glad so many other people notice the “sick” taste. I don’t like “Swiss Chocolate”, either. Nor dark chocolate or white chocolate. I like products by Rowntree or even Laura Secord. Milk-chocolate Lindt truffles are good, too. And Mars bars. Cadbury is okay, too, but I prefer the product lineup of Rowntree. But Hershey’s? Never ever again. Nasty stuff.
guess I need to go and buy a hershey’s bar tomorrow and see if it tastes different to me. I love hershey’s , I was rasied on it. 🙂 I dislike Nestle’s chocolate. I’ve had Chocolate from around the world, and I have had some darned good chocolate, but Hershey’s has ALWAYS been my favorite one, no matter how expensive or exotic the others were.
I regret to inform you that if you are a Hershey-lover, there’s little that can be done to help you now LOL. Perhaps the best thing you can do for now is to just eat as little Hersheys products/junk food for a couple of months as is possible, THEN try a Hersheys bar. This should allow you to taste it for what it truly is… Also, eating any decent chocolate for the time being would help as well. This whole exercise, of course, depends on when you last had a Hersheys bar, If the last time you ate one was over 10-20 years ago, then the company still supposedly used semi-decent ingredients.
Seriously though, try to cut back on heavy-flavoured artificial foods if you haven’t done so already, and I guarantee that you will be able to taste not just bile, but also anything from paper to vomitus, old-man-sweat, feces, and all matter of plastics/industrious resins in previously-thought-to-be-tasty junk food – hold that thought, you might just want to keep eating junk and stay in the Matrix a little longer as ignorance can in fact be blissful.
I’m American, and I completely agree that Hershey’s milk chocolate bars/kisses taste and smell like vomit. What I don’t understand is that Hershey’s makes other kinds of chocolate bars that DON’T taste like that. Their Mr. Goodbars are milk chocolate and they’re very good, Reese’s are delicious, and Symphony bars are almost as good as Cadbury (my very favorite). I have no idea why the company continues to make their regular milk chocolate bars taste so horrible when they obviously have the capability to manufacture other more delicious candy.
I agree.
People have commented on this phenomenon already. This is indeed curious… I think that the chocolate everyone has tried is the sour-milk variety pictured in the original post, and that is seemingly the only type to be exported to other countries, unfortunately. Perhaps if Hersheys wanted to expand they should try something a little less exotic and adventurous and give us some of the ‘Cookies and Creme’ that everyone is raving about…
OMG. I thought I was the only one who thought so. I have half the packet left and every bite I think it’s going to get better, but oh no.
Wow what a long and old thread.
There can be no argument of the vomit smell and taste of Hershey’s milk chocolate, as gf wiki page about it says, it contains butyric acid, as found in off milk and Parmesan cheese.
Just like Parmesan, people are divided. Being used to it is one part of it, but I think possible something genetic that affects people sense of taste is involved? Hmm interesting.
I’m British and everyone I know knows that Hershey’s has this property and avoids it. I like the WW2 idea (so people left your rations alone) but perhaps it’s to do with the hotter weather of the US? There must be a reason for that design.
As off British chocolate cadburys is loved bt the nation but we also know that better chocolate can be bought from Central Europe. Ie Marabou, Suchard. Ironically owned by US company Kraft!
My question is to the US is: how can you put this stuff in your mouth, yet the second Europeans professes their love of blue cheeses, a lot of Americans pipe up about ‘that off smell/taste’. YOu guys not only have record sales for ‘that off smell/taste’, you take the piss out of the entire world by putting sugar and cocoa into blue cheese, then proceed to package it as chocolate.
Oh my goodness. I’m an Australian in South Korea – bought one Hershey’s chocolate bar and threw it away, thinking it had gone off. Just bought a second bar, had the same disgusting vomit taste, and googled it. And ended up here! Yuk! Never again!
I’m British, had lived in California for 3 years some time ago but completely forgot about the taste of sick.
My girlfriend just traveled to the States and brought me back a Hershey bar. I was delighted to get the chance to eat one again, but upon unwrapping the bar – as soon as the chocolate was exposed to the air – I got that whiff of baby-sick and the memories came flooding back!
Brits bang on about Cadburys, but that’s because we’re an island nation and we like to brag about what we do well.
But forget about Cadburys. It’s nice, I love it because I grew up on it, but I don’t live in Britain anymore and I eat many different varieties of chocolate. Some are much nicer than Cadburys, some aren’t as nice, but NONE of them taste like sick. That pleasure is reserved for Hershey’s alone as far as I can tell. Sees chocolate is lovely. Very rich and creamy, I liked it more than Cadburys. Hershey’s is an aquired taste, okay, but a taste which was aquired by Americans only.
By the way, I wanted to google for ‘Hershey’s tastes like sick’, but I only typed ‘Hershey taste’ and the words ‘vomit’ and ‘sick’ were automatically generated by google. Now that’s saying something!
Its not just Hersey’s… well maybe it is… but just about all the chocolate produced in the US for Valentines in those valentines boxes… has the consistency of chalk mixed with dog shit. Its like the cheapest crap chocolate Hersey’s could mass produce for the masses of stupid American idiots who have no idea there is something better. Once you taste anything European, you’ll suddenly know the difference.
Go for Ferro Rocher or Ferro Kuschen, my favorites.
As blog author, I have to disclaim any views of posters as necessarily resembling or mirroring my own..or not.
Went out to buy a bag of dove chocolate and ended up with Hershey’s Bliss on accident! I ate one and was like “This chocolate sucks, what happened Dove?” And then I realized I was duped into buying Hershey’s! Hershey’s stole Dove’s marketing and duped me. I hate you Hershey’s and will never buy Hershey’s again!!!
Just bought Hershey’s milk chocolate from a specialist American sweet shop and could taste the vomit, looked it up on the internet and her I am! Every one who has tasted it is in agreement that it has a sick aftertaste.
I got here by Googling “is it just me or does hersheys chocolate taste like poo”. I’m an American.
Thank you for explaining how they use sour milk. It just taste vile, like bad milk. I have been saying that for years and some people just look at me and say that its not bad. Do they not have taste buds?
The search that brought me to this page was “did hershey’s always taste this bad?”
I am SO glad you explained this! Thank you for letting me know I wasn’t just imagining it. I’m an American who grew up enjoying Hershey’s chocolate. I remember being puzzled by my English friend’s disgusted reaction to Hershey’s – her saying something very much along the lines of “it takes like sick!” – and like another commenter here, I thought she was joking at first.
Today, I can’t stand the taste of Hershey’s. You and my long-ago English friend are both right – it does taste like barf. That’s EXACTLY what that awful taste is. I recently tried some Hershey’s chocolate that a family member had left at my house and found it just nasty enough that I really could not take any pleasure from it. And I’m not a food snob by any stretch! Mostly if a food isn’t rotten, burnt, or otherwise ruined, I’m fine with it. (Well, I can appreciate nicer foods, but I can’t really tell much difference between a good cheese and a great cheese, for example; they both taste wonderful to me!).
I just assumed that maybe with the rampant trend toward degrading food ingredients in processed foods to the brink of absurdity, Hershey’s inclusion of the mysterious “PGPR” in their “chocolate” in order to reduce the amount of cocoa butter, that Hershey’s had just finally gotten worse to the point where I could notice it.
But now I’m thinking that over the years, I just had a lot of opportunities to taste real chocolate, nice chocolate. Normally I’m a very unpicky eater and will eat just about any kind of candy or sweet that’s put in front of me. But this “perfectly good” bag of chocolate, but still sits there, untouched, week after week.
On further reflection, there’s no reason it can’t have always been awful AND become worse too. It really is a wonder that it can be so waxy, and yet so gritty at the same time.
Incidentally, the reason the word “butyric acid” seemed familiar to me is that I remembered hearing it on Whale Wars. Butyric acid is what the Sea Shepard crew used as a stink bomb to harass and drive the Japanese whalers away. It was supposed to be so horrible that it would make the whalers weep and throw up.
LOL that last bit is hilarious and somewhat enlightening! I’m interested, though, what does your diet primarily consist of? From the sounds of it, you talk about food as being rotten, burnt or ruined – this implies that you actually see a value in buying fresh ingredients and cooking them for nutrition. This implies, in turn, that people who are used to home cooking can clearly tell the difference between food and a chemical quite instinctively. I have yet to see person that eats healthy, natural food, and actually likes the taste of Hersheys.
Just eaten some Hershey Chocolate from a New york trip, one’s enough and now can’t get rid of that vomit taste and smell in the back of my nose, This is such a relief to see it’s normal and loads of people feel the same, i’m no choc’ snob anything from Swiss dark to supermarket cooking suits me but Hersheys is bad!
Remember, everyone, this post came from someone in a country where they eat something called, “Marmite”, which must be Middle English for “fecal excrement”. And don’t even get me started on that “Full English Breakfast” garbage (no wonder Chicken Tikka Masala is the most popular dish in the UK!). It’s therefore no surprise that Limeys have no appreciation for the wonderful goodness that is Hershey’s Chocolate.
😀
Just for the record, while reading this blog post and some of the other comments, I had to pause several times due to laughing so hard. Y’all are hysterical!
I know…..Marmite….you either love it or you hate it but at least its what it is and it doesnt pretend to be something it isnt like Hershey calls itself chocolate! Really?? And exactly what relationship does American Cheese actually have to, well, cheese for example?
I’ve had some sublime Full English Breakfasts with fresh free range eggs and bacon from the farm, tomatoes straight from the garden etc. Equally I’ve had some hideous offerings made with really cheap and nasty factory made ingredients.
But maybe we shouldnt take all this too personally, I’m laughing with you too!
Exactly, it’s as if some Americans are simply afraid to try new things in the fear that they may actually like them. Their cheese is a nice example of a close-minded view on cheese as a foodstuff in general.
You’ll have your little joke, won’t you. I agree, while not a fan of Marmite, at least it isn’t forced on people under the guise of chocolate. In fact, despite it’s deceiving colour, nowhere on the jar does it say the ‘chocolate’, which is more than can be said for the fermented shit known as Hershey, however, is marketed as chocolate.
Today was the first time that I ate a fermented, sour ‘dessert’. Before, these traits were only reserved for pickles. Thank you US for broadening my horizons and showing what can be done with basic crops and household chemicals.
I cannot believe how much like actual vomit the “milk Chocolate” hershey tastes like – i just had to google it after having a bar…my Mothers friend was sampling the kisses and said that everyone was spitting it out and saying it tasted like sick and she couldnt even give it away…i have to say i was sceptical…..
i tried a milk chocolate bar – and VILE – really does taste like you have just spewed in your mouth – the other flavours not so much – but this is truly GROSSSSSSS.
Is it really that bad??? I’ve eaten it all my life and never thought it tasted so vile.
I ate a bar, it was vile. I had to run back into Asda and buy a bar of Galaxy to take away the taste!
You’ve made some decent points there. I checked on the internet to learn more about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this web site.
I’ve lived in the US for 24 years and always wondered why Hershey’s tasted like a baby’s chuck-up! Or sweaty feet lol. My family and friends from the UK and Australian friends who stay with me would ask me why American chocolate tastes like vomit and I couldn’t give them an answer. Glad I found this blog so I finally know the reason why after all this time.
TG I live in Australia, where we have a wide variety of chocolate. The worst Australian chocolate is a million times better than Hershey’s. I feel for these people defending Hershey’s, you’ve had no idea what you’re missing out on. SMH
I concur.;
Had my first taste of Hershey’s brought back from Canada a few years back. I discovered no-one at work would touch the kisses I brought home.
Yet strangely a relative brought my son a bar of Canadian Hershey’s – tastes pretty much like Cadburys really – no vomit added.
Is there a difference or did he just get lucky?
http://ww2.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=life.nationalpost.com/2013/03/04/canadas-new-hersheys-chocolate-bar-recipe-is-less-cheesy-gritty-than-americas-thank-you-very-much
Yes! There is a difference interestingly enough. I am Canadian and I don’t like Hershey’s (Lindt girl!) but I find it funny that its different across the border. I was looking for white chocolate chips and Hershey actually makes decent ones in Canada (real cocoa butter) but the US version is not even chocolate. They are white “baking” chips filled with hydrogenated oils and HFCS and no cocoa at all! So disgusting!
Hersheys kisses are vile, bu I’ll let it go as reeces are the best thing ever to have been invented!
Doron says:
I love dark chocolate and according to my taste, the best dark mass-produced dark chocolate bars come from Swizerland, Italy, Belgium, France, the Nederlands, and Israel.
Sadly, Hershey’s dark chocolate was one of the worst that I ever sampled.
All of this can be easily understood if on does an internet search for the term “Hershey’s Process”
The taste results from a manufacturing process specifically designed to make it easier for the company to make chocolate in large quantities without being reliant upon all the milk being completely fresh.
When Milton Hershey created the process, it was a huge manufacturing improvement, and allowed Hershey to become the first large scale producer of chocolate. Prior to that, chocolate manufacturers could not grow larger than their local supply of fresh milk.
The Hershey process is not absolutely necessary today because of improved supplies of dairy milk, but two other factors keep it in use: 1. It reduces the cost of chocolate, and
2. Over time, Americans have become accustomed to the taste, and now actually prefer it.
I’m sorry, but I’m still doubtful as to whether or not people in America actually ‘prefer’ the taste of Hersehy’s. This particular company simply bought out the market when they had a chance. This makes it relatively easy for them to control the domestic chocolate market to this day. I will continue to argue that although Americans ‘prefer’ the taste, they don’t do so out of aesthetic sensibilities, but, instead, out of some abstract sense of patriotism/lack of choice. Try getting in on that market today, even if you’re high-quality chocolate maker.
And for the record, I tried Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups a week ago, and found the taste to quite good; so much so that I went out and bought some more a couple of days ago. This doesn’t really add up with me to this day, but I figure that the sour-milk taste of other Hershey’s products could be a gimmick to save money by sacrificing quality – well played Hershey, well played…
Concerning your first point, I guess Hershey is a company that likes its consumers to see that they value money over quality. As I’ve said before, I’ve tasted Russian/Ukranian chocolate on many an occasion, and if it’s one thing they’ve taught me it’s that you can be a 2nd world country and still mass-produce high-quality chocolate for the masses, that blows ol’ first-world USA out of the water in terms of taste (which is a bit embarassing to be honest); not too mention the health benefits of not using iffy preservation/emulsification methods. It never ceases to surprise me the directly proportional greed that accompanies an economy. It seems the bigger the economy, the more corporations are afraid to lose their shunk of that big economy. Makes sense in a way.
I would suggest that most people commenting here have done an internet search and, by reading this blog post, learnt the reason for the vomit taste.
Hershey’s tastes that awful I have not believed it’s that bad when I tried a bit for the first time. Some weeks later, I tried for a second time, and again that aftertaste of vomit. I cannot believe that that many people can love that vomit. Sorry, but it’s simply the truth.
I am American and prefer Hersheys milk chocolates over some of their American competitors. I had no idea that they were reviled in other parts of the world. I used to work in the chemical flavorings industry. I packaged butyric acid and can attest to its vileness. I must be de-sensitized because I just don’t taste it in Hershey milk chocolates.
My sympathies to so many of you who got the puke shock from trying what you thought was a treat. My question is why would someone bring them back from “The States” if they are so atrocious? I theorize that they get a kick out of seeing their mates reactions. Here are a couple more suggestions:
1. Firecracker: mix 1/2 oz (15 ml) tequilla and an equal part tobasco sauce in a shot glass. Serve to an unsuspecting friend, or group of freinds (enjoy).
2. Cement mixer: pour 1/2 shot Irish creme and finish filling shot glass with lime juice. Have your freinds pour contents into their mouths and swirl as if using mouthwash.
Just found this post by googling “what gives Hershey’s chocolate that distinct flavor”. Spoiler alert…I am an American. I always noticed Hershey’s had a weird flavor, but never figured it out to be sour milk (or vomit as you Brits like to say). I am a chocoholic and have never liked Hershey’s. I would only buy it for making s’mores when camping (for you Europeans who don’t know what a s’more is, here’s a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%27more … they are quite delicious). I have been to Europe many times (my ex was from London, and my god father lives in Austria), and have always preferred European chocolate when it comes to mass produced brands. I prefer organic dark chocolate the most, especially 70-80% cacoa. The Lindt 70% dark with sea salt is addicting. If you know where to look there are really good specialty chocolates to be found. My favorite one is Vosges chocolate. It started here in Chicago and I believe may be available nationally. They make really unique combinations like dark chocolate with bacon bits (another very american thing…bacon on everything!)
Hello ac180,
I take exception to your phrase “sour milk (or vomit as you Brits like to say)” .
“We Brits” have enough subtlety of taste to be able to distinguish between the taste of sour milk and that of vomit.
I assume that most of us have experienced a ‘sicky burp’ when a little of our stomach contents reach our mouths. The taste of stomach contents, or ‘sick’, to give it another name, is quite distinctive. If Americans cannot distinguish the taste of sour milk from that of ‘sick’, ‘vomit’ or ‘puke’, then I am not so surprised they are not offended by these elements in the taste of Hersheys’ chocolate.
Hersheys’ chocolate definitely tastes of vomit (or sick, or puke, as we Brits might say!!)
It’s the butyric acid that gives it that “unpleasant” sour taste. A lot of us (U.S.) are just used to it and it’s just a part of the flavor. The same way a lot of people react to eating insects after only having meat their entire lives.
By the way, fun facts: two billion people on this planet eat insects as a dietary staple, and they’re a good source of protein and carry a lower risk of foodborne pathogens like e-coli and salmonella.
Goes without saying, I’d probably never eat insects.
So you drink vomit? Hersheys isnt that bad.
Btw, your very pretentious.
Umm, you actually don’t need to drink vomitus in order to experience vomit in your mouth, simply because of the fact that vomitus originates in a person’s own bile duct/stomach, and thus it is only logical that upon ejection, said vomitus is tasted by the vomitee.
Isn’t anatomy fun, kids?
BTW, butthurt much?
First of all, your saying u drink vomit? Nasty.
Hersheys isn’t that bad
Btw you come off as a douche.
Hi Chris, if any British person were to read your comment, they would think that you are reinforcing the stereotype that all Americans are bigoted, small-minded wankers that attack them for speaking out and defending their point of view against American a-holes such as you. Freedom, anyone?
I’m yet another person who just ate Hershey’s milk chocolate for the first time, immediately thought it tasted like vomit, and went to the Internet to investigate… It’s awful! Even worse, it was a present from an American friend – they sent me a bunch of their FAVOURITE chocolate to try. Now I either have to lie about this when they ask me how it was, or disappoint them and insult their beloved food. Oh God, it’s just like sick.
MY HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE WITH HERSHEY’S
-They were stocking Hershey’s in Australian Video Ezy stores 2 years ago
-While hiring DVDs I seen them and thought “Oh cool, American chocolate”
-I buy the chocolate
-I eat the chocolate
-I taste fecal matter in my mouth
-So now I snuggle my Lindt bar and cry myself to sleep each night
Having ate one of these and searching up the words Hershey’s and aftertaste 2 years later should give you and idea about how profoundly crushing this was to my soul. Scarred. Always scarred.
I was chuffed and excited to recover a Hershey’s range of chocolate in a secret Santa present. I can confirm it tasted and stank of chunder. In an attempt to offload the vomit-choc, I gave it to a friend. This friend has a high gag reflex and threw up on the spot, DO’NT BUY HERSHEYS so yukky
Indeed, I would not recommend buying/eating of Hershey’s chocolate products if you have a strong notion of what chocolate should taste like. The sourness (from the butyric acid, used to make the milk sour) is hard to get by if you didn’t grow up with it, a bit like how many people would react to drinking water from a foreign country. The people from the area wouldn’t notice any taste that a foreigner would.
I’m from the North-East U.S. In the State of Pennsylvania, there is a town with an amusement park devoted to this product….Yup, you’ve guessed it. Hershey Pennsylvania… I recommend going there some time if you would like to be oddly amused, or contract mild brain damage. Anyway, having grown up with Hershey’s, I’ll say it’s an acquired taste. I never tasted European chocolate until I was about 14 years old, which in hindsight seems strange because my mother’s family is Polish. I’ll admit that the German, Polish, and Russian made chocolates we get at the import and specialty stores here, are fucking amazing, and in no way taste like gnawing on a waxy block of cigarette ash and raw cocoa power. That being said, there are brands worse tasting brands than Hershey’s here in the states, so I’ll still each a Hershey bar once in a while.
I absolutely loathe Hershey’s sad excuse for chocolate. I still dream about the fabulous chocolate treats I had in Switzerland back in ’78.
A complaint about US chocolate coming from a Swiss or Belgian would be worth reading, but how can anyone take a UK blog on food – any kind of food – seriously? The land of warm beer, ultra-overdone meat, and mashed green peas is no judge of food. I’m not a milk-chocolate fan in general, but I love Hershey’s Special Dark.
Hershey’s tasting like vomit? I don’t think so!
The beer is ‘warm’ to Americans because when they visit they ask for a beer and a beer is what they get (known as bitter or mild). What they really want they ask for a beer is the chilled gnat’s piss they are familiar with which the English call ‘Lager”. Mushy peas are pretty gross I’ll grant you, but an institution nonetheless to be enjoyed (or not) with the likes of Steak & Kidney pie or fish & chips. Someone hailing from a country that lauds the burger, hotdog, corn-dog, twinkie and drinks enough carbonate beverages to float Atlantis shouldn’t be so harsh to judge either. As to the meat comment, not sure what that’s all about but I like my steaks medium to medium rare personally.
LOL, at least the UK still has some sort of an agribusiness – your’s has long whored itself for profits and single-handedly wiped out entire families of crops/seeds.
Cheesesteaks taste like armpits; an american salad is not a salad until there’s meat in them; see? I can do that too. At least British mashed peas taste like peas.
With the shitty job the FDA with your food industry, you of all people should understand the value of an ‘ultra-overdone meat’. P.S. No one is restricting you from eating your precious Hurl-eys bars, we’re all just expressing our opinions. How did you even get here?
Saying beer is warm or food tastes bland means absolutely nothing coming from a bumpkin culture that prizes fastfood, GMO vegetables, hotdogs covered in chocolate and inhuman portions made for small elephants. Like you guys are judges of anything.
You can throw stones from glass houses all you want, it just makes you look like an ass is all.
By teh way, the only descent food I’ve seen coming from America is food that was originally brought over by Italians, French, Africans and Spanish. You guys should really get over you identity crisis.
You’ve obviously never tried a real cheesestake.
A real ‘cheesestake’? No. No, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.
It is rather simple to understand.
Read about the “Hershey Process”. Hershey’s chocolate contains Butanoic acid to the milk to stabilize it. Vomit contains hydrochloric acid, which is the closest thing to butanoic acid that most people have tasted.
Thus, it is completely understandable that people who can detect the butanoic/butyric acid are reminded of vomit (which contains hydrochloric acid).
Haha funny. I have never tried Hershey’s, I always wanted to but now I’m not too keen! I am a New Zealander and although I used to love Cadbury’s I feel the quality of their chocolate has declined over the years, also now the majority of it is produced in Australia instead of New Zealand. Staying true to my kiwi brands I started buying Whittaker’s chocolate instead. It is truly stunning chocolate!! Anyway, how did I end up here? I am a university student studying food science and 2 days ago the lecturer mentioned that Hershey’s tastes like vomit to some people… I guess she was right!
Yes!! I personally want to thank the nation of New Zealand for Whittaker’s! The dark variety has a very refined taste. Also, the amount that you get in a single pack is truly value for money (it’s like a goddamn brick lol :D). Finally, I found that the peanut butter flavour Whittaker’s bears an uncanny resemblance to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (I think they were called) – an American chocolate that I thought tasted very good.
Signed,
Your Next-door Neighbour
Used love Hersey fan until few years ago taste in my bud kinda ruin my happiness ….chalky …waxy…cheap ..linger inside my mouth cause thickness in my throat ..Anger me that they sellout in us all !! Shame on them who made this vile Hersey chocolate change recipes also rats infestation ..that disgusting! I stop buy them instead I brought real organic chocolates and normal chocolate smoothy..perfect for truffles and hot chocolate plus chocolate German cakes. Hersey should go back to same recipe keep TRUE to us all not cheat us all want easy way to make than make hard way where true american flavors went ….Im not proud of them who did vile stuff put in our mouth taste vomit and
The foil and foil colour is nice, the shape unique. The chocolate however doesn’t kiss, It sucks.
American chocolate taste like sick because it contains burtic acid they use this in the melting process to give it a crumbly taste. But burtic acid is a component in vomit.
Hershey’s chocolate is one of the most known brands in Northern America, the taste is the foundation of its success ,comparing it to vomit is complete nonsense,Hershey sells more chocolate then most Chocolate makers in this world……it has that distinct cocoa flavor ,that’s not to deep but just right, the product sells with many other brands in the U.S. Market , and will continue to be the top brand to over 300 million people in the U.S. , like they say don’t mess with what people love and we love our Hershey’s chocolate it’s the working people’s choice ….so all you fancy chocolate lovers go buy your expensive royalty chocolates but leave Hershey’s just the way it is for all us hard working Americans that love it’s taste.
Ha… It’s Mexican chocolate, you know, that’s where lead is an ingredient. And they took out the coco butter and added grease. They can’t even make milk chocolate bars from it now. Your either the company or your taste has gone south. lol
I guess they better stop production at the Hershey’s plant … Lol your real funny, leave the Hershey bars to us Hershey fanatics because we can’t get enough of it here in America …..we love our Hershey over 300 million people can’t be wrong,continue to eat your royal chocolates , Godiva must love you and Cadbury too…remember this every palate is different yours must be royalty, good for you spend your money as I wish , but Hershey’s is still America and always will be
“comparing it to vomit is complete nonsense”
No, it contains butyric acid, which is found in vomit, so it literally shares a flavour component with vomit.
I guess the American people love the taste of vomit because we sure love our Hershey’s chocolate …. Like I said before , enjoy your rich flavoured royalty chocolate , most americans love the taste of our working mans Hershey bars ….. They must be doing something right ,just look how many they produce each year
lol,
nice b8, m8.
Limey about Americans telling you about there heritage and where there family is from is not because they are not proud to be called Americans, it’s more about if they are of Italian heritage or any other heritage Americans are also very proud of there ancestry roots……if you were an apple tree and you were transplanted in a orange grove would you now be a orange tree….your blood is your life line , your passport is a piece of paper that gives you the right to live in a country of your choosing it never changes your true ethnicity, Americans know where they come from but will fight to there deaths if you choose to try and take away there freedoms,as my father and uncles did in fighting in World War Two , we will always fly the American flag and wave it better than any country in this world ,but in the end Americans never forget where they come from…I was brought up in NYC where diversity is common ,where everyone has a hard time respecting one another, no matter where your family is from but we live through it and even though we all are a little different from each other , in the end all these diverse heritages come together to form the greatest country in the world, and that’s one thing we know for sure, but we also never forget where our families come from and are also very proud of that
Hersheys also use High fructose corn syrup labelled as “sugar” and aspartme in many products. Their hot chocolate syrup in a bottle has been a reason for weight gain, diabetes, hormone imbalance etc… for many teenagers in the early 2010s. Americans don’t care enough about themselves or others to demand Hersheys to pay repurcussions for all its consumers based on the level of impact. The founder of Hersheys was a crook. He patronized the use of diseased milk and banned the good ol Cadbury from UK. UK is the land of healthy cows just like Netherlands. The Hersheys founder also lobbied a great deal in the politics to promote his oxidizing material for the general public. I’ve met people who had severe health issues becauause of Hersheys consumption. One person died after consuming a bottle of their syrup over a period of 25 days.
As a Brit who has lived in the USA for 32 years I would like to offer my perspective. I would take Cadbury chocolate any day over American chocolate. Any English chocolate is better. I love Malteesers, Aero bars, flakes, crunchies……it’s all better than any chocolate over here. Hersheys tastes like sugary, cheap, waxy chocolate in comparison. I eat it sometimes though, and I’ve never thought it tasted like vomit. Hershey, Pennsylvania is only a few hours from me and you can tour their factory and go to the amusement park. Cadbury makes better chocolate. Period. It’s creamy, milkier, and richer.
I am from America don’t really like hersely chocolate candy bar unless it’s made as a smore over the camp fire and or mixed in milk best chocolate I like is buckeyes it’s semi sweet chocolate and peanut butter candy only found in ohio
Go fuck yourself Hershey’s is the best
As and American, I don’t think Hershey’s is all that bad, but it’s not that good either. It’s among the worst of even the American chocolates, but it’s still chocolate.
I can understand why foreigners hate American chocolate so much though, because chocolate in just about any other country is way better, so if you’re not from the US, our chocolate is probably intolerable to you. Foreign chocolate is sort of a luxury here. Hershey’s became popular because it was cheap.
Appreciate the perspective, but Hershey’s is something different, at least the kisses. They actually taste like you’ve thrown up a little in your mouth.
Australia has a great range of chocolate in major supermarkets or specialty shops. But we also know poor-quality chocolate — at Easter time, our chocolate consumption skyrockets and we get tonnes of grainy compound rubbish to fill the demand.
Hershey’s kisses, on the other hand, have a vomit taste.
No matter what. I love the classic Hershey’s Milk Chocolate. All what you guys saying are just your own opinion. Well! Let me tell mine….I love the taste and I will always buy it. PERIOD
lol!
Gretel… They say some people’s taste is all in their mouths. But in my opinion, yours is “Somewhere else”? lol
Hershey’s the best!
[…] to describe the chocolate as bitter and that the more fitting description is sour/rancid…like vomitus. Now that’s harsh, tee […]
Omg Hershey chocolate is my favorite. Your opinion is very mice
I actually found this page by looking up Neuhaus chocolate and why it has a burnt aftertaste. My husband just came back from Germany and picked up a box for me. It’s the strangest thing. I did think a few of the pieces were good. It was the praline with coffee that I really liked. For the most part I’m not really a fan. I do. Like Hershey’s but I have never eaten a hole bar. My favorites are he Hershey’s hugs that have the white and milk chocolate. The only time I really eat a plain Hersey bar is when I make s’mores. Those are freaking tasty! On the other hand I love Cadbury chocolate but my all time favorite is Lindt. Lindt is so creamy and smooth. I also think that the way Hershey’s is manufactured and the sour milk issue is because of the war. It was a lets work with what we have. It’s kinda the same thing as war cake. Horrible!! It doesn’t just taste nasty it also activates your gag reflex. The older generations enjoy it so I’m going with its a work with what you have. It’s just something that they had growing up so they are used to it.
Since Hershey’s took out the cocoa butter and put in Crisco-like grease, I have noticed the Hershey’s chocolate bar, plain, no nut or cereal, stays in your mouth until you feel like gagging. But every now and then, I break down a buy one.
I know this is an old thread, but here goes. I bought a Hershey bar for the first time a few years ago from Sainsburys. It was the milk chocolate variety, if you could call it that. It was absolutely vile. I thought maybe it had gone off or something, or that it was out of date, but no, it was in date. It had a nasty bland and slimy kind of texture, the taste was not like chocolate at all! It’s kinda hard to describe, but I was so annoyed by its vileness. I almost took it back to complain to the manager for selling chocolate that had ‘gone off ‘
I thought I’d give it another chance, so took another chunk, that was worse than the first! I threw it in the bin. Fast forward to 2016, I thought I would give it another outing, as it’s only fair. This time I bought the same bar from ASDA. This was as nasty as I first remembered. The chocolate actually looked very dark, black almost, not like milk chocolate is supposed to look, same horrible sour, bland taste. I was ill for the entire afternoon, that went in the bin the same way. My conclusion, it is an acquired taste. I suppose if you grow up eating this bile, then you know no better. Give me UK and European chocolate any day. One thing I will say though, I can’t remember there being a vomit taste, as some have described, just a horrible almost stale aftertaste. Will never buy again, learned my lesson. Phew!!!
lol all these stupid comments saying that Hershey’s is complete “vomit”. Let me tell you English idiots something, you guys are dumb as fuck and have horrible taste buds. I grew up with Hershey’s and it tasted alright. Foreign chocolate is okay too. I always see 3 year olds online online commenting about Hershey’s “puke” or “poop” flavor and it is causing more people to hate on Brits because of their flawed opinions on North America’s stuff. I think all chocolate is good (except Palmer chocolate. They taste like crap) and I never experienced a so called “sour” taste in Hershey’s chocolate. It just comes to show that the English waste their time bragging about how they are better than other countries. The usual with British people….
I love Palmer chocolate. Light and sweet and makes good cookies. Let me tell you idiot something, you are dumb as fuck and have horrible taste buds.
+1 Diane!
If lots of people independently say they taste something in the same product, perhaps they’re not “dumb as fuck”? >_<
I've only experienced the vomit flavour in Hershey's Kisses, and at first I thought I was sick. Then later I had another Kiss and realised it was the chocolate.
It's the chocolate, Whatever. Every country makes something bad, don't take it as a personal insult.
‘whatever’ sounds like an uneducated redneck, to be honest. One with horrible taste, to boot.
omg i thought i was the only one tasting the nasty milky after taste everyone got me thinking im crazy😭😂 but it is made of sourmilk?!! omg. explains alot. really discusting taste
Hershey’s is terrible but mass consumed British style chocolate is not much better. Yes I’m talking about the ghastly unnatural sweetness that is Cadbury. Gag now (Hershey’s) or later (Cadbury) If I want to go lower end chocolate. it is usually Ghirardelli/Lindt, which has a good variety. Milka is also pretty good too, but like Fannie May, it is not something you can generally hop over to your local supermarket or drugstore and find with any regularity except for certain times of year.
Some pretty good suggestions there – I heard about Milka, but Ghirardelli and Fannie May sound like some high-end brand-name stuff that I’d be very interested in trying… I kind of have to agree about the Cadbury tbh lol (the amount of sugar seems to be a bit of an overkill in my opinion), but still better than Hershey’s.
As an American I truly know the disgusting taste your describing. When I was a kid my mom had an at home chocolate business. She molded chocolate in all sorts of shapes and even made filled chocolates. She bought her chocolate from the local Amish community who made the chocolate. It was really good chocolate. But then as a kid I was introduced to hersheys chocolate by school mates. I was disgusted by it. The thing that bugs me so much is that hersheys is so popular and ingrained in to the American culture that many people here get offended if you openly say that you don’t like hersheys. The smell of it turns my stomach.
To me Hershey’s doesn’t taste the way it used to. The chocolate bars don’t taste the same and the cocoa powder doesn’t taste the same. To me the cocoa powder used to have a much stronger chocolate taste than it does presently. The chocolate bars with almonds also seem to have an inordinate number of bad almonds. This was my experience when I stopped eating their chocolate a couple of years ago. I complained to them but I didn’t feel they took it too seriously. Recently I bought a new box of their cocoa powder. I had been using a very old box of their cocoa powder that I kept frozen in the freezer for many years. The new box of cocoa powder does not have as much flavor as the old box that had been stored frozen for at least five or six years! Also, their chocolates have begun to taste decidedly waxy to me as well like Nestle’. Cadbury’s is vile has no chocolate flavor and is cloyingly sweet but at least it doesn’t have rotten almonds in it or have the strange texture of sealing wax. I will buy my last box of Hershey’s almond chocolate bars in about a month. If I find even ONE almond with an off taste I am not buying ANY of their rubbish again. The last box had about one out of five almonds bad and that is ridiculous!
I agree that Hershey’s chocolate doesn’t taste like it used to; although it’s better lately since they’ve taken the PGPR out, it is more sour, and softer than it used to be, for the same temperature. I myself complained a couple times recently to Hershey representatives about the Hershey’s with almonds problem; not only do they have only crushed almond pieces in every size bar (the snack size bar was the last size that contained whole almonds, but that is gone now), but about one out of four almond pieces have been rancid in my recent purchases, as you have found, which almost never happened before with the whole almonds, or even at first when they broke them up in the large size (how many years has it been now, 12-15, and they also used to put in more almonds, even broken up, but now there aren’t very many, and the pieces they use are too small, tending to get stuck in one’s teeth). I will not eat Hershey’s with almonds any more, as I’ve tried several sizes with differences of 2 months in Best By dates, recently, and they all had the same problem with rancid nuts. Not only does it ruin the taste, it’s unhealthy to eat rancid oil.
The article and the comments all point to vomit. “Vomit” is not in anything! You are referring to a type of acid that emulisifies. This is the same type if acid found in the stomach that emulsifies food. It provides the tangy taste of Hershey’s chocolate. I love it. It is not “same as vomit”. If you are so grossed out over this emulsifier, take a look at where all your meat comes from.
And this particular acid is reminiscent of vomit (or, it’s quite the coincidence that so many of us are drawing the same connection if we’re objectively wrong).
You are referring to butyric acid, also found in Parmesan and Romano cheese. It is not used as an emulsifier, it acts as a preservative. It was originally produced in the milk Hershey used through a natural fermentation process, but since they have replaced the original factories, who knows how they produce it now, or whether they just added it in, which may be one reason Hershey chocolate, at least the “original” chocolate, tastes different now.
Dustin, perhaps you meant to reply to Jennifer?
In any case, I was thinking of pointing out that butyric acid is a short chain fatty acid, found mostly in the intestine as a product of bacterial metabolism. Not to be confused with hydrochloric acid as found in the stomach (which hydrolyses proteins. Emulsification of fats is mostly the role of bile from the gallbladder).
Also, I was curious about why an aversion to the taste of butyric acid should mean someone is grossed out by the slaughter process. But in the end I did neither of those things.
You are right–after I posted my reply I realized I meant it for Jennifer. I don’t know what the the revulsion of some by the smell and taste of butyric acid has to do with taking a look at where meat comes from either. European milk chocolate uses a caramelization process to preserve the milk component, whereas Hershey’s uses slight fermentation, which slows further degradation.
9 Years later, still tastes like vomit, Im from Spain, a co worker brought some from new york, like a mix, all other varietys (reeses, rice) seemed to taste ok, but milk chocolate was just ew! Only one person out of 8 in the office didn’t notice the sick taste.
I got here because I googled “hersheys taste like vomit” and there were blogs about it on the first two pages of Google. So many people can’t be wrong, the fact is that it tastes like puke and I cannot understand how this “chocolate” is even legal lol. Do people who like it also likes the vomit aftertaste when they are sick? just wondering
I’ve noticed some of the traditional Hershey’s taste a bit different than others, and it may be because they have several different plants now that have not exactly duplicated the process of the original plant, as was indicated in a book I read, where it may be 90% the same, but I’m not sure that’s the main issue. I found it worse during the 17 years or so that they added the emulsifier PGPR, which gave it a softer, pastier texture. I think the Hershey Kisses taste a little better than the bars and the plain milk chocolate Hershey Kisses were the only variety that never had PGPR. They also ruined my favorite variety, the Hershey Milk Chocolate with Almonds, which used to have whole almonds in all sizes, including the giant size, which was my favorite, substituting fewer and fewer and smaller and smaller crushed almonds, to the point that A good portion became rancid too easily and I can’t eat those bars now; after the last hold out with the whole almonds, the 1.4 oz. snack size, got the crushed almonds, they restored them to that size, only, after a year or two due to public demand, they say, but they also used that customer said they wanted almonds in every bite as justification for using this small crushed pieces in the first place, which is just a marketing lie,
But the main issue with your reaction is you’re just not used to Hershey chocolate. Americans grew up with it, and have developed a taste for it. You would think yogurt was rotten if you never tried it before, or some soft ripened cheeses the smell like dirty feet, but people develop a taste for them.