Chocolate Lovers Pained by Candy Changes

'Chocolatey' Goodness?

Meanwhile, May said that candymakers can skirt the regulations for what can be labeled chocolate by emblazoning their wrappers with phrases like "chocolatey," "made with chocolate" and "chocolate candy."

Hershey's Kissables, she said, are one example. May, who blogged about Kissables earlier this month, said that when the candy contained cocoa butter, the candy's wrapper included the phrase "milk chocolate." It's since been replaced with "chocolate candy."

On the back of the Kissables wrapper, the vegetable oils used are listed as "palm, shea, sunflower, and/or safflower oil."

There's a difference between the old Hershey's Kissables wrapper (above, courtesy of www.candyblog.net) and the new one. Candy critic Cybele May says the new wrapper no longer says "milk chocolate" because the candy's formula has changed.

Such combinations of oils and that "and/or" conjunction can be found on other candy wrappers too. It gives candy companies the flexibility to change which ingredients they use when vegetable oil prices fluctuate, said Barry Swanson, spokesperson for Institute of Food Technologists and a professor of food science at Washington State University.

"If one of those fats or oils becomes very expensive, they'll just use less of it," Swanson said.

"I think anytime we're looking at increased costs, you're going to find more, shall we say, creative formulations to try to reduce the cost involved in producing a product," he said.