“This isn’t chocolate anymore. It’s the same as Reese’s.
A woman has gone viral after showing off the rubbery texture of a Hershey’s chocolate bar she purchased.
On March 30, Marissa Shaffer (@MarissaShaffer89) posted a TikTok that gave viewers a closer look at this unexpected consistency. “You hold it like rubber,” she said. “And it tastes chewy, too.”
What’s wrong with Hershey’s chocolate bars?
In the video, the woman demonstrates the elasticity of a chocolate bar. “It doesn’t melt in your mouth like chocolate melts in your mouth,” she said. “It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t do it anymore. It’s disgusting.”
“All our new Hershey’s bars look like this,” she clarified in the caption. “It’s disgusting and really disappointing.”
In a follow-up video, she confirmed that she did not microwave or reheat the candy. She clarified that her mother-in-law “bought…that chocolate bar from…CVS as part of a six-pack” and put it in the freezer.
“A few days later, she took one out of the freezer and took a bite, and she said it was really sticky and chewy and just didn’t feel good,” she added. “So she went to the refrigerator and took out the second piece to see if it was the whole package or just one piece. When she opened the second piece, it was bent. That’s when I started recording.”
She also clarified that she did not heat the lollipop in the microwave and could only hear the sound of the microwave because her father-in-law was using it while filming.
Why are Hershey’s bars like this?
Viewers in the comment section were overwhelmingly angry about the quality of Hershey’s products. “Why is it so difficult for companies to produce real food?” one commenter asked.
“They started using ‘chocolate candy’ and stopped using ‘milk chocolate,'” another commenter added.
Commenters noted that the switch from “milk chocolate” to “chocolate candy” labeling was real and likely had to do with the consistency of the candy shown in the film.
Cocoa butter is the ingredient that gives chocolate its creamy texture. For years, Hershey’s has replaced vegetable oil with vegetable oil in some products to reduce costs. This substitution violates the FDA’s definition of milk chocolate, which is why labels on the affected products quietly changed from “milk chocolate” to terms like “chocolate candy,” “made with chocolate,” or “chocolate.”
The alternative used to replace cocoa butter is called chocolate coating, which is a mixture of cocoa powder, sweeteners and vegetable fats such as palm kernel and coconut oil. Unlike real chocolate, it does not require tempering and remains stable at room temperature. This is attractive to manufacturers looking to streamline production. However, these same properties are what produce the rubber qualities Schaeffer shoots.
Why is the company moving in this direction?
A surge in global cocoa prices has accelerated the trend in recent years, prompting Hershey and other manufacturers to try using less chocolate in different products. The issue came to a head recently when Brad Reese, the grandson of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inventor HB Reese, publicly accused Hershey of using a compound coating instead of real milk chocolate in several products.
In response, Hershey announced it would phase out compound coatings in some Reese’s and Hershey’s products and transition to traditional chocolate by 2027. Hershey insists its classic chocolate bar recipe hasn’t changed, but videos like Shaffer’s show that, at least for some shoppers, something is wrong somewhere in the supply chain.
AllHipHop reached out to Schaeffer for comment via TikTok DMs and the TikTok comments section, and to Hershey via email. We will update this story if either party responds.
@marissashaffer89 All of our new Hershey’s bars look like this. This is disgusting and really disappointing #food #chocolate #fakechocolate #hersheys #fakefood ♬ Soundtrack – MarissaShaffer89
