What Europeans Really Think About Hershey's Chocolate (They Don't Hold Back)

European chocolate lovers definitely have strong feelings about what makes a good candy bar — and those who claim to live overseas posting on subreddits such as r/chocolate definitely have thoughts about why Hershey's chocolate bars are inferior to the stuff offered up in their native countries. Most of them were utterly blunt about the fact that it tasted terrible to them, no matter how they consumed it.

"Tried it. Hated it. They tried to sell it in Tesco in the UK for a bit, both their milk chocolate and the cookies and cream. The cookies and cream is still available, the milk chocolate isn't," remarked one British reddit user. A consumer from Sweden claims they tried one bite and spit it out, and another said, "It is the worst chocolate I ever tasted. It had an aftertaste like puke. Literally." But there are also some European consumers who actually enjoyed the taste of the American sweet.

And yet there are also some European consumers who don't think Hershey's chocolate tastes all that bad. "I don't mind it, but it's not great. Not satisfying like real chocolate," a poster wrote, damning the confection with faint praise on r/AskEurope. And at least one other consumer claimed to like it. 

Why does American chocolate taste so different from European chocolate? It turns out that the sweets are manufactured under different regulations. American chocolates, per FDA laws, are allowed to contain less pure chocolate liquor (which is basically chocolate paste) than EU-sold versions of the product — 10% to the 20% or higher required by overseas standards. This results in a clear difference in taste; American chocolate has a milkier flavor, while European chocolate tends to have a richer, more complex taste.

This is why Hershey products aren't sold as milk chocolate in certain European countries; they're instead marketed as chocolate candy, and labels explain that the coating on beloved treats like Reese's Peanut Butter cups aren't made of genuine milk chocolate but 'milk chocolate coating.' While The Hershey Company recently announced it would return to using real chocolate in the U.S. following public outcry regarding this practice, the move might be too late to win over the hearts of staunch Europeans who are repulsed by the brand. But hope springs eternal.