Editing Milk chocolate (section)

{{Short description|Solid chocolate containing added milk}}
{{distinguish|Chocolate milk}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Milk chocolate
| image_alt = A bar of [[Milka]]-brand milk chocolate
| image = File:Milka Alpine Milk Chocolate bar 100g with chunks broken off.jpg
| image_size = 280
| caption = A [[Milka]] chocolate bar, 30% cocoa.
| type = Confectionery
| country = Switzerland
| creator = [[Daniel Peter]]
| year = 1875
| main_ingredient = {{plainlist}}
* [[Cocoa butter]]
* [[Cocoa solids|Cocoa mass]]
* Milk
* Sugar
{{endplainlist}}
| no_recipes = false
}}

'''Milk chocolate''' is a form of solid [[chocolate]] containing [[Chocolate liquor|cocoa]], sugar and milk. It is the most consumed [[types of chocolate|type of chocolate]], and is used in a wide diversity of [[chocolate bar|bars, tablets]] and other confectionery products. Milk chocolate contains smaller amounts of cocoa solids than [[dark chocolate]]s do, and (as with [[white chocolate]]) contains [[milk solids]]. While its taste (akin to [[chocolate milk]]) has been key to its popularity, milk chocolate was historically promoted as a healthy food, particularly for children.

Major milk chocolate producers include [[Ferrero SpA|Ferrero]], [[The Hershey Company|Hershey]], [[Mondelez International|Mondelez]], [[Mars, Incorporated|Mars]] and [[Nestlé]]; collectively these supply over half of the world's chocolate. Four-fifths of all milk chocolate is sold in the United States and Europe, and increasing amounts are consumed in both China and Latin America.

Chocolate was originally sold and consumed as a beverage in pre-Columbian times, and upon its introduction to Western Europe. The word ''chocolate'' arrived in the English language about 1600, but initially described dark chocolate. The first use of the term "milk chocolate" was for a beverage brought to London from Jamaica in 1687, but it was not until the Swiss inventor [[Daniel Peter]] successfully combined cocoa and [[condensed milk]] in 1875 that the milk chocolate bar was invented. Switzerland developed as the centre of milk chocolate production, particularly after the development of the [[conche]] by [[Rodolphe Lindt]], and was increasingly exporting to an international market. Milk chocolate became mainstream at the beginning of the twentieth century following the launch of [[Milka]], [[Cadbury Dairy Milk]] and the [[Hershey bar]], inducing a dramatic increase in world cocoa consumption.

To provide ethical assurances on cocoa harvesting for consumers, [[Fair trade certification|Fair Trade]] and [[UTZ Certified]] chocolate was established in the 21st century.