For me, Hershey’s chocolate has a sour tinge to it. I don’t particularly care for Hershey’s Kisses or chocolate bars for that reason. Apparently I’m not the only person who’s noticed this; not only do Takeout commenters bring up this complaint on the regular (we see you!), but according to this 2017 article from The Daily Mail, this sour flavor I’ve been noticing all these years is the presence of butyric acid. Butyric acid can be found in parmesan cheese, spoiled butter, and, wait for it…vomit.MTN DEW Baja Blast Hot Sauce Is a Gorgeous Oddity Share Subtitles
HuffPost goes into great detail about how butyric acid shows up in Hershey’s chocolate specifically. What’s complicated is that butyric acid isn’t an added ingredient to Hershey’s chocolate, according to their spokesperson—so where does it come from?Advertisement
First off, butyric acid is naturally occurring. It can be found in your gut, as it’s a fatty acid that is a byproduct of bacteria breaking down dietary fiber. You’ll find it in lots of foods, including red meat, sauerkraut, and even vegetable oil. And it’s added to food and perfume, too; some of its molecules smell like pear, pineapple, apricot, and apple.Advertisement
According to this 2000 article from Penn State News, the butyric acid comes from not the chocolate, but the milk in the chocolate. As fatty acids in milk decompose, in a process called lipolysis, you’ll end up with that rancid taste. The article says that Hershey’s deliberately puts its chocolate through that process, giving it that signature divisive flavor. This means that even if butyric acid isn’t being added, it’s something that can show up as part of the chocolate making process.Advertisement
Hershey’s keeps its chocolate-making techniques a tightly controlled secret. Different methods and different ingredients could certainly yield a milk chocolate that’s less, well, vomity. So why stick to this formula, knowing perfectly well that there’s a sour flavor in it?
Author Michael D’Antonio of Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams, suggests that it’s all about brand consistency.
I guess consistency and brand loyalty goes a long way. I highly recommend reading the entire HuffPost piece, because there’s a lot of interesting stuff in it, like how Hershey’s chocolate set the stage for American chocolate preferences and has likely influenced the way you think about the sweet treat.
Starting in 2006, Hershey has added polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) to their chocolate, except for the traditional plain milk chocolate Hershey’s Kisses.
If you’ve ever tasted American milk chocolate, especially Hershey’s, and you’re used to British or European chocolate, you’ll probably recall it has a distinctive tangy flavour. This is because the milk in Hershey’s chocolate is treated with butyric acid to make it last longer. Unlike in Britain, where dairy farms are close to chocolate factories, in America the source of milk can be thousands of miles away. During the advent of chocolate’s popularity, the early 20th century, there were limited refrigeration options and slower transport systems than today. This posed a problem – how to keep the milk fresh? The solution back then was to allow the milk to deteriorate, or sour, in a safe way before transportation.
Around the 1930s, Milton S. Hershey, founder of The Hershey Company, pioneered the use of butyric acid to stabilise milk, causing it to undergo a process known as lipolysis. The full method is a trade secret, known simply as the ‘Hershey Process’. American chocolate fans are so used to the sour, cheesy taste that other chocolate manufacturers who don’t use the Hershey process actually add butyric acid to give their chocolate that distinctive, long-lasting tang – which lovers of sweet, creamy British chocolate describe as tasting like parmesan cheese or even baby sick.
Do you have a favourite type of chocolate? Maybe you prefer the sweetness and smooth mouth feel of a good milk chocolate, or maybe it’s the bitterness of a rich dark chocolate you prefer? But what about chocolate that tastes slightly of parmesan cheese, or even a little like baby sick? Well, thanks to butyric acid, chocolate with that distinct ‘tangyness’ is very popular, as Louise Crane explains…
Finally, a note on butyric acid’s smell. It is not only responsible for the smell of farmyards and vomit, but also that classic ‘wet dog’ smell. Butyric acid is one of many compounds secreted from a dog’s anal glands, and while dogs have no problem sniffing out these chemical scent cues from each other, we humans find it quite pungent. And now, I challenge you not to think of a dog’s bottom the next time you reach for a delicious, tangy, Hershey’s Kiss.
High fibre diets are known to help protect against colon cancer, and butyric acid might be one of the reasons. Anaerobic fermentation converts butyric acid into butyrates, which are an important energy source for cells in the digestive tract. The cancer protecting mechanism is not yet fully researched, though we know that the acid promotes the normal differentiation of abnormal, malignant cells in culture. Another idea under investigation is that lower fibre butyrate-producing foods, particularly those high in fructans such as garlic, can inhibit the growth of human cancer tumour cells in the colon because of the interaction between butyrate and diallyl disulfide, one of the many other chemicals that these foods contain.
Author Michael D’Antonio of Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams, suggests that it’s all about brand consistency.
According to this 2000 article from Penn State News, the butyric acid comes from not the chocolate, but the milk in the chocolate. As fatty acids in milk decompose, in a process called lipolysis, you’ll end up with that rancid taste. The article says that Hershey’s deliberately puts its chocolate through that process, giving it that signature divisive flavor. This means that even if butyric acid isn’t being added, it’s something that can show up as part of the chocolate making process.Advertisement
First off, butyric acid is naturally occurring. It can be found in your gut, as it’s a fatty acid that is a byproduct of bacteria breaking down dietary fiber. You’ll find it in lots of foods, including red meat, sauerkraut, and even vegetable oil. And it’s added to food and perfume, too; some of its molecules smell like pear, pineapple, apricot, and apple.Advertisement
I guess consistency and brand loyalty goes a long way. I highly recommend reading the entire HuffPost piece, because there’s a lot of interesting stuff in it, like how Hershey’s chocolate set the stage for American chocolate preferences and has likely influenced the way you think about the sweet treat.
Hershey’s keeps its chocolate-making techniques a tightly controlled secret. Different methods and different ingredients could certainly yield a milk chocolate that’s less, well, vomity. So why stick to this formula, knowing perfectly well that there’s a sour flavor in it?
HOW IT’S MADE: Hershey’s Chocolate
FAQ
What gives Hershey’s its unique flavor?
What is the vomit enzyme in Hershey’s chocolate?
What is unique about Hershey’s chocolate?
Does Hershey’s still use butyric acid?
Why did Hershey’s make chocolate?
The answer is simple: Hershey’s invented chocolate as a mainstream treat, therefore becoming the brand every other brand would look to. Plus, in American chocolate’s early days, Benjamin said, there weren’t hard lines between candy producers. “Candy companies made candy for each other,” she said.
What ingredients are in candy?
Candies always have sugar in their composition. They may also have other sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup and some colorings.
What are the ingredients in a Hershey’s bar?
The milk ingredients in a Hershey’s bar include milk fat and lactose. Milk fat, as its name suggests, is the fat content in milk, while lactose is the sugar found in milk. In addition to the ingredients, Hershey’s Bars also contain regular milk. Hershey’s chocolate bars contain several additives.
Do Hershey’s chocolate bars contain milk?
In addition to the ingredients, Hershey’s Bars also contain regular milk. Hershey’s chocolate bars contain several additives. Soy lecithin is made from soybean oil and added to Hershey’s chocolate to keep the cocoa and cocoa butter from separating.