Hershey’s is going au naturel. We just fell in love with Hershey’s all over again.

Hershey’s has some big news for us. Yes, that’s right, they are no longer going to produce their renowned kisses and rich chocolate bars with artificial ingredients. The premiere American chocolate company will instead strive towards “simplicity and transparency”, i.e no more junk in their chocolates.

They are actually replacing the words “artificial flavour” from the package and replacing it with “natural flavour” and we couldn’t be happier.

“We will strive for simplicity with all of our ingredients, but we may not achieve it with every product,” said Jeff Beckman, a representative with Hershey.  “We are equally committed to sharing what we achieve and what we don’t. For ingredients that are not as simple, we will explain what they are and why we need them to provide the great flavours, aromas, textures, and appearances that our consumers know and expect from our products. Our commitment to simple ingredients is a holistic approach across all of our ingredients and not a specific ingredient.” 

The new set of ingredients in Hershey’s will now be recognizable and pronounceable like sugar, milk, chocolate, cocoa butter and milk fat. Hershey’s will be taking out lactose (a natural sugar present in milk), PGR (Polyglycerol polyricinoleate, a chemical emulsifier), other emulsifiers, and vanillin (the primary component of the vanilla bean). As always, Hershey’s chocolate will not contain high fructose corn syrup. 

For now they this radical change is extended only to the bars and kisses. But Beckman said that the company is striving towards better ingredients for their other brands. We will take what we get! Healthier chocolate? Bring it on!