8 Chocolate Brands That Use the Lowest Quality Ingredients — Eat This Not That

By Ghuman

Introduction

Chocolate is one of the most beloved treats around the world. But not all chocolate is created equal. Some brands use the lowest quality ingredients, resulting in a subpar product. In this article, we’ll take a look at 8 chocolate brands that use the lowest quality ingredients. We’ll also provide some healthier alternatives so you can still enjoy your favorite treat without sacrificing quality. So, let’s get started!

8 Chocolate Brands That Use the Lowest Quality Ingredients

When it comes to chocolate, quality ingredients are key. Unfortunately, not all chocolate brands are created equal. Some use the lowest quality ingredients, resulting in a subpar product. Here are 8 chocolate brands that use the lowest quality ingredients, so you know what to avoid.

1. Hershey’s

Hershey’s is one of the most popular chocolate brands in the world, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Hershey’s uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Hershey’s if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

2. Nestle

Nestle is another popular chocolate brand, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Nestle uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Nestle if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

3. Cadbury

Cadbury is a British chocolate brand that is popular around the world. Unfortunately, Cadbury uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Cadbury if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

4. Mars

Mars is a popular chocolate brand, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Mars uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Mars if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

5. Ghirardelli

Ghirardelli is a popular chocolate brand, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Ghirardelli uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Ghirardelli if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

6. Lindt

Lindt is a popular Swiss chocolate brand, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Lindt uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Lindt if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

7. Godiva

Godiva is a popular Belgian chocolate brand, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Godiva uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Godiva if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

8. Russell Stover

Russell Stover is a popular American chocolate brand, but it’s also one of the worst when it comes to quality ingredients. Russell Stover uses artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other low-quality ingredients in their products. Avoid Russell Stover if you’re looking for a high-quality chocolate.

Did you know that in America, as in many places, “chocolate” is actually a closely regulated term? It goes much beyond the flavor of a food, and instead, deals with the details of its composition. Under FDA rules—and numerous rules, at that—a foodstuff must meet strict criteria to call itself chocolate, though that varies based on what type of chocolate is in question.

According to Registrar Corp, per FDA rules, milk chocolate “must contain at least 10 percent chocolate liquor, at least 3.39 percent milkfat, and at least 12 percent milk solids.” White chocolate “must contain at least 20 percent cocoa butter, at least 14 percent total milk solids, at least 3.5 percent milkfat [and] it cannot consist of more than 55 percent nutritive carbohydrate sweetener.” Finally, to be considered dark chocolate, its only source of chocolate flavoring must be “an ingredient that complies with one of the standards of identity for cacao products.”

To skirt the rules, many chocolate brands will use wording like “chocolaty” or “chocolate-flavored” in order to be able to use cheaper, stand-in ingredients. Here’s the thing: even within technically legal bounds, companies can still make chocolate cheaply. The secret? Usually, it’s just using a whole lot of sugar, oil, and HFCS alongside the genuine chocolate ingredients. Here are 8 chocolate brands that are using the lowest-quality ingredients. And next, don’t miss 8 Worst Fast-Food Burgers to Stay Away From Right Now.

butterfinger bar wrapped in packaging
Shutterstock

Long marketed as “Crispety Crunchety Peanut-Buttery!” but never marketed as chocolate, these popular candy bars may taste chocolaty, but technically, there’s no chocolate to be found here. Butterfinger’s chocolate-adjacent coating is made with ingredients like corn syrup, vegetable oil, milk, and cocoa, but it does not meet the bar for being real chocolate.

Lindt Excellence 50% Cocoa Mild Dark Chocolate Bars
Walmart

This candy bar may try to pose itself as a fancy, rich treat from a so-called “Master Chocolatier” brand, but take a closer look at the ingredient list than you do at the “50% Dark Cocoa” claim emblazoned on the wrapper. The first ingredient here is…sugar. And yes, chocolate comes second, but when sugar (or corn syrup) comes first, you’d do best to sink your teeth into something else.

Palmer's Double Crisp Hearts
Courtesy of Palmer

Here again is a candy that bills itself as “chocolaty” because it can’t call itself chocolate. These foil-wrapped Valentine’s Day staples are made with only one chocolate-like ingredient, and that’s “cocoa (processed with Alkali).” They also feature plenty of ingredients you’d likely rather not feature in your diet, like the artificial flavoring agent vanillin and hydrogenated vegetable oil.

RELATED: The Best Hot Chocolate in Every State

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bars
Courtesy of Amazon

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bar, but there’s some misleading going on here. If you love the decidedly rich, fancy Cadbury chocolate you get in Europe, then these will be a letdown, as they are made in Pennsylvania Hershey’s under a license agreement from Cadbury. And while they are made with real chocolate ingredients, cocoa butter and all, note that there’s trickery on the label, too, which lists the first ingredient as “Milk Chocolate,” but then in a parentheses shows that the first ingredient within “milk chocolate” is simply sugar.

new jersey reeses peanut butter cups
Shutterstock

Delicious as they may be, it’s probably no surprise that these classic candy cups are so low-priced because they’re made with cheap ingredients. Yes, there is technically real chocolate here, but it’s milk chocolate, in which the first ingredient is sugar. And there’s also hydrogenated vegetable oil here, the go-to for companies looking to cut back on quantities of costlier cocoa butter.

Russell Stover Sugar Free Mint Patties
Courtesy of Russell Stover

What these chocolate patties leave out in sugar they compensate for with a number of ingredients you’d do best to avoid. That’s things like maltitol, an artificially produced sugar alcohol, fractionated palm kernel oil and hydrogenated palm oil, sorbitol, and more. In short, when you cut out the sugar, you add in the chemicals–not always a good trade.

RELATED: The Best & Worst Chocolate in America—Ranked! 

bottle of hersheys chocolate syrup

Yes, it’s a classic you remember from countless glasses of childhood chocolate milk. No, it’s not a chocolate product. That’s why it says “Genuine Chocolate Flavor” on the label of Hershey’s Syrup instead of saying “Chocolate Syrup.” The first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup, the second ingredient is corn syrup, the third is water, and the fourth is cocoa. And the fifth? Sugar.

tootsie rolls
Shutterstock

Sure, this chocolaty taffy candy has been around for more than a hundred years, but that’s a testament to the American sweet tooth, not to the quality of the candy. At best a chocolate-adjacent foodstuff, Tootsie Rolls consist of sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, condensed skim milk, cocoa, whey, soy lecithin, and artificial and natural flavors. They barely touch the bar for being real chocolate and certainly don’t cross it.

For more chocolate news you can use, check out 16 Old-Fashioned Chocolate Desserts That Everyone (Secretly) Loves.

Steven John

Steven John is a freelancer writer for Eat This, Not That! based just outside New York City. Read more