Earlier in the year, Brad Reese, the 70-year-old grandson of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups creator H.B. Reese, wrote an open letter to the Hershey corporation.
In his letter, he accused the company of cutting corners. In the process, he said, they had done significant damage to his grandfather’s invention.
Responding to this letter, the Hershey company admitted to making “product recipe adjustments” in order to “make new shapes, sizes and innovations.” While the company insists these changes were minor, Reese claims that the resultant product is so different that he threw away a recently purchased bag of Reese’s Mini Hearts.
“It was not edible,” Reese told the Associated Press in an interview.
Reese’s post struck a chord with internet users, many of whom had suspicions that the candy didn’t taste the same as it used to. Now, a user on TikTok has the internet talking after claiming he couldn’t make it through the new Reese’s Egg. Why?
What’s Wrong With The New Reese’s Egg?
In a video with over 506,000 views, TikTok user @american_citizen69 says he recently purchased a REESE’S Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Giant Egg. However, he “only ate like two bites of it.”
“You might be saying, ‘Why, that’s a six-ounce Reese’s egg. Do you really need more than two bites of that?’ Yeah, easily. Would kill this whole thing easily, and then I’d make some microwave popcorn after,” he starts. “But last night I took like two bites of this. … It’s not good. Something tastes not right with this.”
According to the TikToker, the candy was “slimy,” “elastic,” and “almost rubbery.”
“I’ve been on the Reese’s train for years,” he explains. “If they’re like this now, I’m out—’cause this sucks.”
“I’m not even gonna finish this,” he continues. “I’m gonna throw it away, and that is unheard of for me, let me tell you.”
Did Reese’s Really Change Its Recipe?
Reese’s has changed the recipes of its products many times over the years.
A 2009 blog post documented the changing recipe for the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg. According to Candy Blog, a source from 2005 listed the ingredients as “Milk Chocolate, Peanuts, Sugar, Dextrose, Salt, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Glycerin & TBHQ.”
However, by 2009, that recipe had changed to “Peanuts, Milk Chocolate, Sugar, Dextrose, Vegetable Oil, Chocolate, Nonfat milk, Salt, Whey, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Corn Syrup, Milk fat, Corn Starch, Soy Lecithin, Glycerin, TBHQ, Vanillin.”
The modern ingredient list for this product is also different in many ways. For example, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil has been removed, and “milk chocolate” has been more explicitly defined.
That said, the giant egg being shown by the TikToker has a different recipe than the smaller eggs. For example, it appears to contain more chocolate. This could explain why the large egg tasted different from the smaller eggs.
Whether this is better or worse than previous iterations is simply a matter of opinion. There could be other factors that influence flavor as well, such as the sourcing of the cocoa used or the formulation of the milk chocolate used in the product.
In an email, a Hershey spokesperson told BroBible that the recipe for the 6-ounce Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg has not changed.
“This product recipe has not changed and is made with milk chocolate and peanut butter,” the spokesperson wrote.
Commenters Aren’t Happy
In the comments section, many users claimed to have similar experiences with Reese’s candies.
“Peanut butter cups used to be the only candy I liked. Now it’s nasty,” wrote a user.
“I haven’t eaten reeses or Hershey brand stuff in like a year because it tastes like chemicals now. skimpflation has ruined so many things,” declared a second. “try the aldi brand peanutbutter cups. they aren’t the same as old reeses cups but better than the BS happening now at least its real chocolate.”
Some offered their own theories as to why Reese’s products taste different now.
“I work in a bakery and our bags of chocolate were $64 when I started. They are now $240. The tariffs are ruining this country,” said a commenter.
“It was announced months ago that the world‘s Cocoa production is low due to climate change. but also the companies are greedy and won’t lower their prices for a lesser product,” offered another.
@american_citizen69 But the CEO was able to buy a 7th vacation home so I guess it’s all good. As long as it’s over 8,000sq/ft.
BroBible reached out to @american_citizen69 via TikTok direct message and comment.