‘Like rubber’: Woman tries to eat a Hershey’s chocolate bar. She can’t believe what the end result is

‘It’s no longer chocolate. Same with Reese’s.’

A woman went viral after showing the rubber-like texture of the Hershey’s bar she purchased. 

On March 30, Marissa Shaffer (@MarissaShaffer89) posted a TikTok giving viewers an up-close look at the unexpected consistency. “You hold it like rubber,” she said. “And it tastes chewy too.”

What Was Wrong With the Hershey’s Bar?

In the video, the woman showcases the elastic nature of the chocolate bar. “It doesn’t melt in your mouth like chocolate melts in your mouth,” she says. “This is ridiculous. It doesn’t do that anymore. It’s disgusting.”

“All of our brand new Hershey’s bars are like this,” she clarifies in the caption. “It’s disgusting and really disappointing.”

In a follow-up video, she confirms that she did not microwave or heat up the candy bar. She clarifies that her mother-in-law “bought … that bar as a part of a six pack from … CVS” and put it in the fridge. 

“A couple of days later, she got one out of the fridge, took a bite out of it, and she said it was really gummy and really chewy and just didn’t feel right in her mouth,” she adds. “So she went to the fridge, got a second one out to see if it was the whole pack or just one bar. And when she opened the second one, it was bendy. And that’s when I started to record.”

She also clarifies that she did not microwave the candy bar and that the microwave can only be heard because her father-in-law was using it while they were filming. 

Why Was the Hershey’s Bar Like This? 

Overwhelmingly, viewers in the comments section expressed outrage about the quality of Hershey’s products. “Why is it so hard for companies to make ACTUAL food?” asked one commenter. 

“They started to use ‘Chocolate Candy’ and stopped using ‘Milk Chocolate,’” added another commenter. 

The commenter pointing to the shift from “milk chocolate” to “chocolate candy” labeling was onto something real, and this is very likely related to the consistency of the candy bar shown in the video. 

Cocoa butter is the ingredient responsible for giving chocolate its creamy texture. Over the years, Hershey’s has replaced it with vegetable oil in certain products to cut costs. That substitution violates the FDA’s definition of milk chocolate, which is why labels on affected products quietly shifted from “milk chocolate” to terms like “chocolate candy,” “made with chocolate,” or “chocolatey.”

The substitute used in place of cocoa butter is known as a chocolate compound coating, which is a mixture of cocoa powder, sweeteners, and vegetable fats like palm kernel and coconut oil. Unlike real chocolate, it doesn’t require tempering and remains stable at room temperature. This makes it attractive to manufacturers looking to streamline production. However, those same properties are exactly what produce the rubbery quality Shaffer filmed.

Why Are Companies Moving in This Direction?

Surging global cocoa prices in recent years have accelerated this trend, pushing Hershey and other manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate across different products. The issue recently came to a head when Brad Reese, the grandson of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inventor H.B. Reese, went viral after publicly accusing Hershey of swapping out real milk chocolate for compound coatings in several products. 

In response, Hershey announced it will phase out compound coatings in select Reese’s and Hershey’s products and transition back to traditional chocolate by 2027. Hershey insists that its classic chocolate bar recipe has not changed, but videos like Shaffer’s suggest that, for at least some shoppers, something has gone wrong somewhere along the supply chain.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

AllHipHop reached out for comment to Shaffer via TikTok direct message and the TikTok comments section and to Hershey’s via email. We will update this story if either party responds.

@marissashaffer89 All of our brand new Hershey’s bars are like this.It’s disgusting and really disappointing #food #chocolate #fakechocolate #hersheys #fakefood ♬ original sound – MarissaShaffer89

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