Hershey bar

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (commonly called the Hershey's Bar) is the flagship chocolate bar manufactured by the Hershey Company. It is often referred by Hershey as "The Great American Chocolate Bar." The Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar was first sold in 1900 followed by the Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds variety beginning production in 1908. A circular version of the milk chocolate bar called Hershey's Drops was released in 2010.

Hershey's milk chocolate

The Hershey Process milk chocolate used in these bars only uses fresh milk delivered directly from local farms while the vast majority of other milk chocolates contain powdered milk. The process was developed by Milton Hershey and was 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, in particular in areas where European chocolates are more widely available. The process is a trade secret, but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which is the dominate flavor in Romano cheese. This flavor gives the product a particular sour, "tangy" taste, to which the US public has come to love, to the point that other manufacturers often add butyric acid to their milk chocolates.^[1] Hershey Milk Chocolate is also darker in color than most milk chocolates. This is an indication that the milk chocolate contains a higher level of unsweetened chocolate and less sugar. The American bar's taste profile was not as popular with the Canadian public, leading Hershey to introduce a reformulated Canadian bar in 1983.^[2] The company describes the revised Canadian formulation as a "creamier, smoother, lighter colored and milder flavored product more suitable to Canadian taste".

Other varieties and details

In addition to the standard Milk Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Almonds varieties Hershey's also produces several other chocolate bars in various flavors: Special Dark chocolate, Cookies 'N' Creme, Symphony (both Milk Chocolate and Almond Toffee), Mr. Goodbar (with peanuts), and Krackel (with crisped rice). There were also nine limited flavors: 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.

All flavors are approved by the Kashruth Division of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America for consumption by observant Jews, with OU Kosher status.

The largest Hershey's bar commercially available weighs five pounds (2.3 kg) and costs US$44.99 on Hershey's website.^[3]

References

External links

• Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar product details from Hershey's site
• Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds Bar product details from Hershey's site