The Hershey Process milk chocolate in these bars uses fresh milk delivered directly from local farms. The process was developed by Milton Hershey and produced the first mass-produced chocolate in the United States. As a result, the Hershey flavor is widely recognized in the United States, but less so internationally, especially in areas where European chocolates are more widely available. The process is a company and trade secret, but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which stabilizes the milk from further fermentation. This flavor gives the product a "tangy" taste that the US public has come to associate with the taste of chocolate, to the point that other manufacturers often add butyric acid to their milk chocolates. Outside of America, the taste is more often likened to the taste of vomit, in part due to the butyric acid likely present in the chocolate. The American bar's taste profile was not as popular with the Canadian public, leading Hershey to introduce a reformulated Canadian bar in 1983. Starting in 2006, Hershey has added polyglycerol polyricinoleate to their chocolate, except for the traditional plain milk chocolate Hershey's Kisses. In 2015, Hershey announced they would begin removing PGPR from the rest of their chocolate. Artificial vanillin was also removed in 2015. Hershey did remove PGPR from some of their chocolate bars, but in April 2019 started putting it back in Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds full size bar, and plain milk chocolate bars, and never removed it from Symphony milk chocolate and other products. Hershey does not claim to use vanilla in their chocolate, only natural flavor, which may be the same chemical as the artificial one it replaces, except created from a natural source through several processes.
Other varieties and details
In addition to the standard Milk Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Almonds varieties, Hershey's produces several other chocolate bars in various flavors: Special Dark chocolate, Cookies 'N' Creme, Symphony, Mr. Goodbar, and Krackel. Nine flavors were available for limited periods: Double Chocolate, Nut Lovers, Twosomes Reese's Pieces, Cookies 'N' Chocolate, Cookies 'N' Mint, Strawberries 'n' Creme, Raspberries 'n' Creme, Twosomes Heath, and Twosomes Whoppers. All flavors have between 210 and 230 calories per standard-sized bar. The Kashruth Division of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America approves all flavors for consumption by observant Jews, with OU Kosher status. The largest Hershey's bar commercially available weighs and costs US$59.99 on Hershey's website.
