XPost: alt.food.safety, rec.food.cooking, misc.consumers   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: zed@is.dead   
      
   On Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:03:20 +0100   
   Roderick  wrote:   
      
   > Brad Reese, the grandson of the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter   
   > Cups, is criticizing The Hershey Co. for "quietly replacing" the   
   > candy's flagship chocolate and peanut butter ingredients.    
   >    
   > Reese claimed on LinkedIn last week that the company has replaced milk   
   > chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut   
   > butter-style crème across multiple Reese's products, a move he alleges   
   > has eroded the Reese's brand and jeopardized consumer trust.    
   >    
   > "How does The Hershey Company continue to position Reese's as its   
   > flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while   
   > quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut   
   > Butter) that built Reese's trust in the first place?" Reese wrote in   
   > a Feb. 14 LinkedIn post in which he shared an open letter addressed   
   > to Hershey's corporate brand manager.    
   >    
   > Brad Reese is the grandson of H.B. Reese, who spent two years at   
   > Hershey before forming his own candy company in 1919. H.B. Reese   
   > invented Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in 1928, and his six sons   
   > eventually sold his company to Hershey in 1963.    
   >    
   > "Reese's became iconic because my grandfather built it on real   
   > ingredients and real integrity," Reese wrote in a separate LinkedIn   
   > post on Tuesday.    
   >    
   > Hershey defends its decisions   
   > In a statement to CBS News, Hershey said it sometimes makes "product   
   > recipe adjustments," although it noted that "Reese's Peanut Butter   
   > Cups are made the same way they always have been."    
   >    
   > "As we've grown and expanded the Reese's product line, we make product   
   > recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and   
   > innovations that Reese's fans have come to love and ask for, while   
   > always protecting the essence of what makes Reese's unique and   
   > special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter," the   
   > company said.    
   >    
   > Elevated cocoa prices have led some candy manufacturers to experiment   
   > with using less chocolate in recent years. Cocoa prices have dropped   
   > in recent months, but, as experts have told CBS News, retail prices   
   > remain sticky because of a lag between purchases of raw cocoa beans   
   > and when companies produce their candies.    
   >    
   > Brad Reese said he thinks Hershey went too far. He said he recently   
   > threw out a bag of Reese's Mini Hearts, which were a new product   
   > released for Valentine's Day. The packaging notes that the   
   > heart-shaped candies are made from "chocolate candy and peanut butter   
   > crème," not milk chocolate and peanut butter.    
   >    
   > "It was not edible," Reese told The Associated Press in an interview.   
   > "You have to understand. I used to eat a Reese's product every day.   
   > This is very devastating for me."    
   >    
   > Strict chocolate standards   
   > The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has strict ingredient and   
   > labeling requirements for chocolate. To be considered milk chocolate,   
   > products must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor, which is a paste   
   > made from ground cocoa beans and contains no alcohol. Products also   
   > must contain at least 12% milk solids and 3.39% milk fat.    
   >    
   > Companies can get around those rules by using other wording on their   
   > packaging. The wrapper for Hershey's Mr. Goodbar, for example,   
   > contains the words "chocolate candy" instead of "milk chocolate."    
   >    
   > Reese claims Hershey changed the recipes for multiple Reese's products   
   > in recent years. Reese's Take5 and Fast Break bars used to be coated   
   > with milk chocolate, he said, but now they aren't. In the early 2000s,   
   > when Hershey released White Reese's, they were made with white   
   > chocolate. Now they're made with a white creme, he said.    
   >    
   > Reese said Reese's Peanut Butter Cups sold in Europe, the United   
   > Kingdom and Ireland are also different than U.S. versions. On   
   > Wednesday, a package advertised on the website of British online   
   > supermarket Ocado described the candy as "milk chocolate-flavored   
   > coating and peanut butter crème."    
   >    
   > In a conference call with investors last year, Hershey Chief Financial   
   > Officer Steven Voskuil said the company made some changes in its   
   > formulas. Voskuil did not say for which products but said Hershey was   
   > very careful to maintain the "taste profile and the specialness of our   
   > iconic brands."    
   >    
   > "I would say in all the changes that we've made thus far, there has   
   > been no consumer impact whatsoever. As you can imagine, even on the   
   > smallest brand in the portfolio, if we were to make a change, there's   
   > extensive consumer testing," he said.    
   >    
   > But Brad Reese said he often has people tell him that Reese's products   
   > don't taste as good as they once did. He said Pennsylvania-based   
   > Hershey should keep in mind a famous quote from its founder, Milton   
   > Hershey: "Give them quality, that's the best advertising."    
   >    
   > "I absolutely believe in innovation, but my preference is innovation   
   > with quality," Reese said.    
   >    
   > https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hershey-reeses-peanut-butter-cup-ingredients   
   > -grandson-brad-reese/    
   >    
      
   Wow, one more Frankenfood on the cheaps...sigh...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)