Why British And American Chocolate Taste Different

Category: Food & Drink

While British and American chocolate may look similar, they taste very different. One of my British colleagues describes American chocolate as "powdery." It's "too sweet," another protests. Compared to American chocolate, British chocolate is said to be richer and smoother. Flavor distinctions aren't imaginary. It has to do with differences in recipes and manufacturing, depending on which side of the pond you are on. It tends to be higher in fat and cocoa in British chocolate. The sugar content of American-made chocolate tends to be higher. To be considered "milk chocolate," a product must contain no less than 25% cocoa solids. In the US, milk chocolate contains no less than 10% chocolate liquor. An article by Kim Severson in the New York Times highlighted the differences between Cadbury Dairy Milk bars made in Britain and those sold in the US, manufactured by Hershey. According to Severson, a British Cadbury Dairy Milk bar contains milk, sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, vegetable fat and emulsifiers. On the other hand, Hershey's version hand, lists Its first ingredient is sugar. Its list also includes "lactose and the emulsifier soy lecithin, which keeps the cocoa butter from separating from the cocoa." Cadbury is a British company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Cadbury chocolate products are manufactured in the US by the Hershey Company. Under this license, however, Hershey is allowed to tweak the recipe. A spokesman for Cadbury, Tony Bilsborough, told Severson that Cadbury ships to Hershey's Pennsylvania factories a special mix of mashed dried milk, chocolate, and cocoa butter. Hershey takes it from there. According to Bilsborough, "[the taste comes from] the final processing and blending." Among Americans who prefer British chocolate, these differences have become a source of frustration, after Hershey's reached a deal last week with an importer of British goods to prevent Cadbury chocolates from entering the US. As part of the agreement, Let's Buy British Imports, a company that imports British chocolate into the US, will also stop importing British Kit Kat bars, Toffee Crisps, and Yorkie chocolate bars. Advocates of British chocolate aren't happy with the news.