Milk Duds


Milk Duds are a caramel ball, covered with a confectionery chocolate coating made from cocoa and vegetable oil. They are manufactured by The Hershey Company and sold in a yellowish-orange box.
According to the manufacturer, the word "Milk" in the candy's name refers to the large amount of milk in the product; the use of "dud" came about because the original aim of having a perfectly spherical piece was found to be impossible. Milk Duds were first created in 1928.

Timeline

In 1928, Hoffman and Company of Chicago tried to manufacture a perfectly round, chocolate-covered caramel candy. Because it was impossible to make the candies round, the candies were called "duds". This was the inspiration for the candy's name, "Milk Duds". In the same year, Holloway took over Hoffman and Company and the production of Milk Duds.
In 1960 Holloway sold Hoffman and Co. to Beatrice Foods.
In 1986, Leaf purchased the Milk Duds business. In 1992, production of Milk Duds candy was moved to Leaf Candy Company's Robinson, Illinois plant.
In 1996, Leaf's North American confectionery operation was acquired by Hershey Foods Corporation of Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Changes to ingredients

In 2008, the Hershey Company changed the ingredients of some of its products to replace the relatively expensive cocoa butter used with cheaper oil substitutes. This was done to retain a current product price, rather than having to raise prices in the marketplace for products containing cocoa butter.
Hershey's changed the description of the product and altered the packaging slightly along with the ingredients. According to United States Food and Drug Administration food labeling laws, these modified recipes that do not contain cocoa butter can not be legally described as candy coated in milk chocolate and are instead described as "chocolate candy" or as having "chocolate coating."