Victory: Hershey to Remove GMO Ingredients from Milk Chocolate
Joining the lineup of companies that are kneeling to public pressure, candy-maker Hershey has recently announced that it will soon remove genetically modified ingredients from its milk chocolate and Kisses by the end of 2015. What’s more, the company is pledging to shift to ‘simple ingredients,’ which will exemplified by the removal of emulsifier polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) and artificial vanillin.
Coming straight from Hershey’s website:
“What sparked these ingredient changes? Have consumers been asking Hershey to move to simpler ingredients/labels?
As a consumer-centric company, we understand that people want to know what’s in their food. As consumers ourselves, we agree with them. That’s why we will share information openly, candidly and transparently. Our iconic brands are about goodness – goodness in both how they are made and how they taste. For more than 100 years, we’ve built trusting relationships with our consumers and customers around this principle. We’re proud of this heritage. But at the same time, we listen closely to our consumers and are always working to make our brands relevant to evolving expectations and lifestyles.
With the changes that Hershey is making to ingredients (non-genetically modified sugar, sustainable, traceable palm oil, rBST-free milk), what is the end game?
Our iconic brands are about delivering goodness – both in how they are made and how they taste. We are moving our product portfolio to simpler ingredients. This will take time and as part of that journey we will be sharing more about what’s in our products, and how they are sourced and manufactured. All of this is based on knowledge and insights about what our consumers care about most.”
Like virtually every food producer in our current time, Hershey has been dealing with pressure for years from individuals and consumer groups alike to remove (or at the very least, label) GMOs in its products. Though while the company made the shift in Canada years ago, it hasn’t changed its ways in the US until now.
In the shift to come, Hershey announced that it will be moving to natural vanilla, non-genetically modified sugar, and milk from cows which have not been treated with growth hormone rBST. Further, Hershey intends to roll out with products that do not contain high-fructose corn syrup or artificial colors & flavors. The Hershey’s Kisses and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars are already free of HFCS – not the company just needs to trash the other ingredients.
The move by Hershey is yet another example of how consumer demand can seriously spark a needed-shift in our food system. Though processed foods are not the answer to a healthy lifestyle, the fact that we as a collective still have a voice is a good sign that our food system can be changed for the better.
Another victory!
why the F would you plug a corporation like hershey this is no more or less than an advertisement for these criminal corporations I hope you were well paid and I hope you choke on it
hey mike do they pay you well? good ad
While we await for mandatory GMO labelling (like Europe), innovative companies can generate a sales spike by claiming that their products are “GMO Free”.
That’s very true. And like someone noted – what about the cows that give the milk? What have they been eating all day. I guarantee you they’re no in the alps grazing on fresh grass….more like in feed lots munching on GMO corn…
for one thing ,we will never know ,as there are no labs that would verify that arent funded by industry .it was pretty much a blessing to me that they changed their formula to one with PGPR and what not as i have been truly addicted since early childhood to this brand of chocolate,so much so that i stole for it when i was very young,and could never eat one individual portion,i HAD to have more and absolutely could not control myself when it came to hershey chocolate.nestle,cadbury,or any other brand never had this effect on me or satisfied my craving.but then,they changed the recipe,and after all these years my body rejected it.dont know for certain which particular ingredient was causing the immediate repulsion ,but it didnt even smell the same anymore. it offends me deeply that ,because of the corruption and “law” or lack thereof in the USA ,that their recipe remained unchanged for other countries that wont accept such useless poison in their food yet this company thought nothing of poisoning its american customers with such filth just because they could.that has permanently destroyed all trust in this company and while my chocolate fix remains unsatisfied,i am grateful that i was able to break my addiction to this company long enough that i wont be “relapsing” on their product no matter how “transparent” the ingredients.cant ever be sure how things are sourced anymore,and thats a shame.i am however grateful that children will be less harmed than before ,but this is nothing but a business move,must have been more than just this addict that stopped buying,and if they cared at all they wouldnt have poisoned the formula in the first place in my opinion
Big whoop. Now if Hershey’s could come up with a chocolate bar that has no milk ingredients in it at all. Why don’t they get with the program? A dark chocolate bar (70% or more) should never contain milk — not if it’s healthy antioxidants you’re looking for.
A couple of years ago I was rolling down the track on a coal train when my conductor said, “hey you want some Hershey’s?” Being human, I said ” of course!” He tossed me a fun size. I opened it and the first thing I noticed was that it bent under the pressure of me fingers. It had gotten warm because it was summer. I found it odd that it had this pliable consistency as opposed to just melting normally. It also had a different mouth feel and taste. This got me thinking and when I got home I referred to the interweb. That’s how I found out about pgpr. I had never heard of it before. That was the last hershey bar that me, my wife or my kids ate. We have had to go with costlier options from our local organics store. I miss Hershey’s though. No other milk chocolate can come close to their perfect balance of sweet and bitter. I, for one, am not an idealist and don’t see anything wrong with this being a “business decision.” What do you think business do? They make profitable decisions. As a matter of fact, it being a business decision is even more encouraging to me and is a sign of change. Any mom and pop company can peddle natural chocolate in health food stores for $3.00 a bar. They are looked at as “good people” because they provide a natural product. But I bet that price point was a “business decision.” For a major player like Hershey’s to see the light and decide that being more natural would be profitable is a great sign of things to come. I will personally be buying Hershey bars for my family if they truly do switch to non GMO organic ingredients and ditch the pgpr.