I was also struck by the comments section and agree with many of the observations. There are guilty pleasures that I used to eat occasionally that now either taste terrible or make me feel terrible. Fast food fries taste like plastic to me. Which is probably a good thing.
I would not be surprised if the butter comment is true,

I did not know this! Yuck

An interesting read, thanks for sharing, Lucille. Timely, too, for tonight. I’ve never been a fan of chocolate or most sweets, but do indulge a bit with leftover Halloween candy. I haven’t noticed the changes, but probably because I so rarely eat these things.

My grandmother used to keep treats in her pantry … Little Debbie, Hostess, Mrs Baird’s (she baked and made wonderful desserts, but always kept a stash of quick, sweet snacks for us kids). I tried some old favorites a while back and ugh. They tasted awful! Most likely a combo of ingredient, etc, changes and my tastes being different as an adult.

The most important part of this story:

In February, the nonprofit research group Climate Central published a study that found climate change had brought six additional weeks of extreme heat to most West African growing regions per year over the last decade, suppressing crop productivity.

WHAT? That is dramatic

I'm going to push back just a bit on the candy ingredient lists - the requirements have changed significantly for food ingredients lists since then and there may well have been a few of the chemical-type ingredients used then, just not listed. I am not saying the candy hasn't changed or that the current ingredients are fine. But we can't compare what we knew in the 1950s to now. Chemicals have been added to all our foods that are processed in some way, some for very valid reasons. Not all additives are to be feared. That said, I'm not a candy eater - at least not the ones listed or the types normally given out at Halloween so can't comment on the different taste.

Chemicals have been added to all our foods that are processed in some way, some for very valid reasons.

True. But color me wary about all of this. The food industry always outpaces the public health research. By the time we know something is harmful, we have been eating it for a decade or so. Processed foods are bad for health, it is pretty clear.It's not that hard to make a peanut butter cup...

Totally agree mtn, we NEED to be wary. However, some of this MAHA insanity is filtering into the mainstream from incredibly non-credible sources and we need to be wary of that as well. Jessica Knurick is a very reputable source if you ever wish to check out her videos.

Thank you!

Mark Hyman routinely spouts falsehoods that support his agenda. He has done these comparisons between Gatorade labels and in reality the ingredients were so much worse when originally manufactured. Don't believe his pretty little charts.

Good to know

Huh.....my post disappeared. Only saying that a chocolate shortage should be enough to bring everyone around to fighting clmt chg!

Mark Hyman — pseudoscience of the RFK, Jr. ilk.

🔹https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hyman_(doctor)

As far as the chocolate changes go, that is more of a substituting or adding ingredients to make up for the decreasing amount of cacao. Those ingredients aren’t particularly harmful. You can think of them as stretching the product or attempting to add a chocolate flavor. And some of them are preservatives. I don’t think there’s any new far out weird chemicals or anything like that so I would not get anxious.

Imagine, walnuts, being expensive and so chickpeas are added to chocolate chip cookies or walnut cake as a facsimile.

Polyglycerol polyricinoleate(PGPR), E476, is an emulsifier made from glycerol and fatty acids (usually from castor bean, but also from soybean oil). In chocolate, compound chocolate and similar coatings, PGPR is mainly used with another substance like lecithin[2] to reduce viscosity. It is used at low levels (below 0.5%),[3][4] and works by decreasing the friction between the solid particles (e.g. cacao, sugar, milk) in molten chocolate, reducing the yield stress so that it flows more easily, approaching the behaviour of a Newtonian fluid.[4] It can also be used as an emulsifier in spreads and in salad dressings,[5] or to improve the texture of baked goods.[5] It is made up of a short chain of glycerol molecules connected by ether bonds, with ricinoleic acidside chains connected by ester bonds.

PGPR is a yellowish, viscous liquid, and is strongly lipophilic: it is soluble in fats and oils and insoluble in water and ethanol.[3

—————

tertiary Butylhydroquinone

tert-Butylhydroquinone

Names

Preferred IUPAC name

2-tert-Butylbenzene-1,4-diol

Other names

TBHQ(i)

Identifiers

CAS Number

[1948-33-0(https://commonchemistry.cas.org/detail?cas_rn=1948-33-0)

3D model (JSmol)

Interactive image

ChEBI

CHEBI:78886

ChEMBL

ChEMBL242080

ChemSpider

15235

DrugBank

DB07726

ECHA InfoCard

100.016.139

EC Number

217-752-2

E number

E319 (antioxidants, ...)

PubChem CID

16043

UNII

C12674942B

CompTox Dashboard (EPA)

DTXSID6020220

InChI

SMILES

Properties

Chemical formula

C10H14O2

Molar mass

166.220 g·mol−1

Appearance

Tan powder

Density

1.050 g/mL

Melting point

127 to 129 °C (261 to 264 °F; 400 to 402 K)

Boiling point

273 °C (523 °F; 546 K)

Solubility in water

Slightly soluble

Acidity (pKa)

10.80±0.18

Hazards

Occupational safety and health(OHS/OSH):

Main hazards

Harmful

GHS labelling:

Pictograms

Signal word

Warning

Hazard statements

H302, H312, H315, H317, H319, H335, H400

Precautionary statements

P261, P264, P270, P271, P272, P273, P280, P301+P312, P302+P352, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P312, P321, P322, P330, P332+P313, P333+P313, P337+P313, P362, P363, P391, P403+P233, P405, P501

Flash point

171 °C (340 °F; 444 K)

Safety data sheet(SDS)

External MSDS

Related compounds

Related compounds

Butylated hydroxyanisole(BHA)

Butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT)

4-tert-Butylcatechol (TBC)

Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

verify (what is ?)

Infobox references

tert-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, tBHQ) is a synthetic aromaticorganic compound which is a type of phenol. It is a derivative of hydroquinone, substituted with a tert-butyl group.

ApplicationsFood preservative

In foods, TBHQ is used as an antioxidant preservative for unsaturated vegetable oils and many edible animal fats. It does not cause discoloration even in the presence of iron, and does not change flavor or odor of the material to which it is added.[1] It can be combined with other preservatives such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). As a food additive, its E number is E319. It is added to a wide range of foods. Its primary advantage is extending storage life.[1]

The new milk chocolate doesn’t look appetizing.

A couple of months ago, we bought a lot of those 80% or 60% chocolate bars intended for cooking. I’ll have to look at what the labels say.

Thanks, Lucille.

Has anyone made there own chocolates?

The adulteration of milk chocolate — what’s next? Let’s see…

— Lobster will now be half tofu

— Asparagus will be comprised of 40% grass

— Steak —- 47% Argentinian orphans

Huh.....my post disappeared.

Annie, my Houzz account is FUBAR. One of the changes is that I can no longer post to Home Dec Convos and KT at the same time, so I post separately and a comment made in one will not automatically show up on the other.

Rather than immerse myself in a tech struggle that I am not suited for, I simply hope that the next time Houzz has a tectonic change, my Houzz universe will shift back to normal.

I don’t typically consume these sorts of candy and hadn’t eaten a Reeses for many years but I was given one recently and my immediate taste reaction was YUCK, not at all as I’d remembered.

My Halloween assortment bag has twizzlers in it. I used to like them but haven't tasted one in at least 10 years if not more. I pulled a package out to try this afternoon, wondering how it will taste!
Also, we supposedly get hundreds of kids in our new neighborhood for Halloween. The weather is nice and I am bracing myself!!

I have noticed that the mass produced chocolates have tasted weird for 25 years. Where have you all been? I assumed it was to make the product cheaper to make, have a longer shelf life and make it more profitable for the manufacturer. The sizes also shrunk and the prices increased!

When I want chocolate, I buy 'boutique" chocolates made by smaller independent companies in small batches. There is a small gourmet market in my area and they will usually carry these brands, but never consistently, so if I like something I make sure to take a photo and then can order directly from the company. Just don't order chocolates that need to be shipped, in the middle of summer, specially if you live in FL!!!

I've never had a sweet tooth, but I, too, have noticed a change in how chocolate tastes. I assumed my taste buds were changing.

I'm another fan of Jessica Knurick.

Where have you all been?

Judging by previous threads about chocolate and our buying preferences (many here have developed quite a knowledge of 'good' chocolate, what it is and where to find it) we have all been aware of the changes in chocolate. Earlier changes may have been due to competition/profit.

But climate change has apparently exacerbated changes to the point that according to the NYT article some candy wrappers had to describe their product differently because the product no longer complied with the specific requirements of being labelled 'milk chocolate'.

I am with Chispa, I have gotten much more picky on my chocolate the last 20 years. Actually, I never really liked chocolate when I was younger but I have become a bit obsessed, after being introduced to better chocolate as an adult.

It sounds more like the manufacturers were finally caught in trying to sell "milk chocolate" that wasn't really milk chocolate. Reduce the cacao percentage a little bit at a time and hope that no one notices. At some point it start to taste like brown plastic and nothing like chocolate!

I think profit is the main driver of these changes and not necessarily climate.

profit is the main driver of these changes

Of course. Climate change is exacerbating the changes by contributing to the difficulties of obtaining ingredients at a competitive cost.

I'm going to sound like the grumpy old lady here, but I've found the kickback against healthy eating by a certain generation to be alarming. As a kinder and first grade teacher, part of the curriculum was to teach "healthy" food choices. Parents are such snowflakes now, that if I so much as used the phrase, "fresh is best", they would take it as if I had sent them a personalized letter telling them they are the worst parents on the planet. I get parents these days are busy. When my kids were little, I also sent granola bars, etc. for snack. However, I find it alarming that 3/4 of my class would not eat breakfast and then eat something like a chocolate (or I guess psuedo chocolate) bar for morning snack and a bag of gummies for afternoon snack. Add this to the list of why I knew it was time to retire. :-)

How dare they! (And my beloved ghiradelli dark chocolate chips have shrunk.)

Ok, I just got home with a variety of 2,000 bite size candy bars. (Slight exaggeration, but a bunch.)

I did a taste test of three of them … I would’ve tested more, but wow! These little bites pack in a lot of calories!

I tested:

Baby Ruth

Snickers

Twix

Results: they all tasted the same and now my stomach hurts. But that might be from the jalapeños I had at lunch.

I thought my twizzlers were more gummy than I remembered. The taste was fine but the texture was off.

And what is it with the trend the last few years to add "salted" to all types of chocolate?

Stonewall Kitchen had a really good Dark Chocolate Fudge sauce. Now most of their fudge flavors have "salted" added to the flavors, so now they sell Salted Dark Chocolate Fudge, and not the original version.

I DON"T WANT SALT IN MY CHOCOLATE OR FUDGE!! ;-)

Maybe just another way to reduce the cacao, by adding salt, so you won't catch that they cut back on the chocolate!

Oh chispa you are singing my song! I do NOT like salt on my chocolate thank-you-very-much! I'm in the don't mess with good chocolate camp, same as don't mess with good cheesecake. There is a lot to be said for both in their unadulterated state.

Even our Reese’s PB cups taste off. 😩 This is so disappointing. OTOH on another website I read that Aldi and TJ PB cups are actually quite good.

Daisychain, I agree with you that kids’ healthy eating at school should be a no-brainer, but our community coalition received so much pushback on healthy school meals for kids. People were seriously like “my child should be able to eat pizza every day if he wants” or that they were mad Chick Fil A couldn’t be used for lunch (even the grilled stuff is too high in sodium to meet whatever standards were in place at the time.) We had an afterschool activity programs for kids and one of the boys for the school breakfast had a pop tart and then for lunch a corn dog. Those were the school meals at the time.

I like dark chocolate with a high cacao percentage and usually keep a stash on hand for a little treat. ”Regular” candy has not tasted the same to me in a few years. It actually made me sick to my stomach when I ate a few pieces before Halloween. I read the NYT article today and it made sense. Yuck!

Coffee production is also being hurt by rising temperatures and erratic rainfall.

Trader Joe's dark chocolate peanut butter cups are sooo good!

I'm surprised to see Twizzlers have flour in them. I always thought they were sugar and plastic.

Interesting that Twizzlers started out with licorice extract, and that the 1920s version didn't have red dye. Perhaps the comment here about labeling requirements has some merit...what could have made them red in the 20's? Were they ever black licorice, like Good n Plenty? Walmart has them listed as "Twizzlers Twists Strawberry Flavored Licorice Style Low Fat Candy".

Gosh, they take the fun out everything...these drugstore candies used to be a guilty pleasure, but now are barely a pleasure at all. Sad for the little kids who never had a thin Nestle Crunch bar wrapped in foil that actually tasted like chocolate. My childhood fave.

On another note, I once did a sampling of every WF chocolate bar with over 70% cacao. DH came home from a business trip to find stacks of bars, each with one square missing. Except for the Hu, which was almost gone. IMHO Hu is the most widely available dark chocolate that is melty, which I think adds to the chocolate experience. Although I'm not sure I would have appreciated it in Halloween basket back in the day.