Editing Milk chocolate (section)

==Manufacturing and marketing==
While all milk chocolate contains cocoa, milk and sugar, the proportion of these ingredients varies between countries and brands, which in turn affects its taste. For example, Belgian chocolate is known for its mild milky flavor, while some Russian brands have a strong cocoa taste.{{sfn|Wohlmuth|2017|page=493–494}} Cost is the main reason for the introduction of cocoa butter replacements like [[coconut oil|coconut]] and [[palm oil]]. However, there are also regulatory reasons. In 1973, for example, the European Union decreed that chocolate must have a minimum of 35 percent dry cocoa solids.{{sfn|Meloni|Swinnen|2019|page=287}} China has also introduced legislation to require locally produced milk chocolate to contain 25 percent cocoa butter.{{sfn|Mo|Rozelle|Zhang|2019|page=174}}

Milk chocolate has been presented as a health food since [[Cadbury]] first advertised Sloane's Milk Chocolate for its medicinal properties in the nineteenth century.{{sfn|Wilson|Hurst|2012|page=85}} In the 1920s, the [[Baby Ruth]] bar was touted as a health food for children by [[Allan Roy Dafoe]].{{sfn|Wilson|Hurst|2012|page=111}} Advertisements pronounced that chocolate bars combined both a source of essential energy and the "perfectly balanced food" of milk.{{sfn|Wilson|Hurst|2012|page=133–134}}

Cocoa butter was claimed to reduce tooth decay.{{sfn|Wilson|Hurst|2012|page=135}} Chocolate was claimed to produce calming effects, reducing stress, and producing a similar feeling to falling in love.{{sfn|Wilson|Hurst|2012|page=136–138}}

===Processing===
Milk chocolate is manufactured from cocoa, milk and sugar.  It is the manufacturing process, rather than the raw ingredients, which is most responsible for each brand's flavor.<ref name=":1" />  

The ingredient which defines the product as chocolate, [[cocoa bean]], is mainly grown in Southeast Asia, South America, and West Africa, particularly the [[Ivory Coast]], which supplies 40 percent of the total global cocoa market.{{sfn|Beckett|2015|page=9}} Once the [[cocoa pod]]s are harvested, the seeds, known as "beans", are removed and fermented, then dried. They are then taken to a processing plant where they are cleaned and roasted.{{sfn|Beckett|2017|page=5}} The beans are then ground, usually in a two-stage process, first with an impact mill to liquify the cocoa, and then a ball mill. Milk chocolate usually contains a much larger proportion of [[cocoa butter]] than the one that is naturally present in [[cocoa liquor]]; unlike [[dark chocolate]], a large part of non-fat cocoa solids is going to be replaced by milk solids.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cD-8DwAAQBAJ | title=Handbook of Food Structure Development | publisher=[[Royal Society of Chemistry]] | author=Spyropoulos, Fotis | year=2019 | pages=136| isbn=9781788012164 }}</ref> Therefore, cocoa butter has to be produced in parallel by separating cocoa liquor into cocoa butter and cocoa powder.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urs9QCMKOw4C | title=Cocoa | publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] | author=Wood, G. A. R. | year=2008 | pages=539 | quote=This cocoa butter has to be obtained by pressing more cocoa liquor, leaving a residual cake.}}</ref>  Milk chocolate has a minimum cacao content of 10% in the US, and has been produced with as much as 70% cacao.<ref name="iht" />

At this stage, the two other key ingredients come into the process:  milk and sugar.  Milk ingredients are complex and critical in delivering the properties and taste to milk chocolate. Milk-origin ([[terroir]]) and associated farming have become an important marketing topic.{{sfn|Beckett|2011|loc=chpt. 4: "Milk-origin and farming and processing practices are becoming factors of increasing interest"}} [[Milk substitute]]s like [[rice milk]] are also used to create lactose-free milk-like chocolate.{{sfn|Byrne|2010}}  Milk is often added in [[Powdered milk|powdered]] form, particularly in German, French, and Belgian milk chocolate,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Beckett |first=Stephen T |date=August 2003 |title=Is the taste of British milk chocolate different? |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1471-0307.2003.00099.x |journal=International Journal of Dairy Technology |language=en |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=139–142 |doi=10.1046/j.1471-0307.2003.00099.x |issn=1364-727X |via=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]] in [[Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Library|The Wikipedia Library]]}}</ref> as excess water would damage the flowing properties of the liquid chocolate.{{sfn|Beckett|2015|page=23}} [[Spray drying|Spray dried]] full-fat milk powder is normally used, but alternatives include [[anhydrous]] full fat or skimmed milk powders,{{sfn|Wohlmuth|2017|page=494}} and the choice affects the overall flavor.<ref name=":1" />  Condensed milk is preferred by some manufacturers, particularly where milk production is seasonal.{{sfn|Beckett|2015|page=2}}  In most of Europe, milk chocolate must contain at least 3.5% milkfat.<ref name=":1" /> 

Sugar, the last major ingredient, is added at the same time as the milk powder, either in a roll refiner or conche. Sugar is an international commodity, with production of [[sugar cane]] led by Brazil, India, Thailand, China and Australia.{{sfn|Goldstein|2015|page=698}} [[Sugar beet]] is also used.{{sfn|Wohlmuth|2017|page=494}} Sometimes the milk and sugar are mixed separately before being added to the liquid cocoa mass and cocoa butter.{{sfn|Beckett|2017|page=6}}  About 45 to 50% of most milk chocolate is sugar, by weight.<ref name=":1" />  

The liquid chocolate is then poured into moulds and formed into bars or any other shape.{{sfn|Beckett|2017|page=4}}

====Chocolate crumb====
This is the original method developed by Daniel Peter to make milk chocolate. It consists of mixing cocoa liquor with sweetened condensed milk and drying it into a hard, dry, brittle powder resembling bread crumbs.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nvEjDgAAQBAJ | title=Beckett's Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use | publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] | author=Beckett, Steve T. | year=2017 | pages=135 | quote=Daniel Peter found that by drying his dark chocolate paste with Nestlé's sweetened condensed milk he could achieve his aim. In the process he developed the first crumb-based milk chocolate.}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The powder is then refined with the additional cocoa butter.

British milk chocolate derives its characteristic, slightly cooked flavor by using a dehydrated blend of milk, sugar, and cocoa called '''chocolate crumb'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Greenwood |first=Veronique |date=24 December 2023 |title=Why British chocolate tastes the way it does |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231221-why-british-chocolate-tastes-the-way-it-does |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=BBC}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Originally developed because milk production was high during the summer but chocolate demand was highest during the Christmas shopping season,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> the cocoa and sugar preserve the milk fats better than full-cream milk powder.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ziegler |first=Gregory A |title=Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences |last2=Beckett |first2=Stephen T |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-12-818767-8 |editor-last=McSweeney |editor-first=Paul LH |edition=3rd |page=515 |chapter=Milk chocolate |editor-last2=McNamara |editor-first2=John P}}</ref> The process of making chocolate crumb usually produces a [[Maillard reaction]], resulting in a subtle "cooked", caramel flavor.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

====The Hershey process====
The actual Hershey process is a [[trade secret]], but experts speculate that the milk is partially [[lipolysis|lipolyzed]], producing [[butyric acid]], and then the milk is pasteurized, stabilizing it for use.<ref name="iht">{{cite news |last=Moskin |first=Julia |date=13 February 2008 |title=Dark may be king, but milk chocolate makes a move |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/13chocolate.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514172804/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/13chocolate.html |archive-date=14 May 2016 |access-date=1 January 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |df=dmy-all}}</ref>  The resulting milk chocolate has been described by experts as "tangy", "sour", and "acidified".<ref name="iht" />

=== National preferences ===
Milk chocolate developed in different places, using different processes and locally available technology, and the end result is that milk chocolate produced in different countries has different characteristic flavor profiles.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />  For example, British milk chocolate tastes slightly cooked or baked, American milk chocolate tastes more acidic, Swiss milk chocolate has a fresh milk flavor, and Belgian milk chocolate has more cocoa flavor and less milk flavor than the Swiss milk chocolate.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />  This is primarily due to the different approaches to preparing and incorporating milk into the chocolate.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> 

No matter what the flavor is, consumers prefer the style that they are accustomed to and dislike less familiar flavors.<ref name=":1" />  Multinational chocolate producers adapt their products to the style preferred locally.  When that hasn't been done, the product generally sells poorly.  For example, the Hershey process gives that brand's milk chocolate a particular taste, which is common and expected in the US, so some rival manufacturers now add butyric acid to their milk chocolates.<ref name="iht" />  Cadbury's attempted to introduce their [[Cadbury Dairy Milk]] recipe, using the chocolate crumb process, to the former [[East Germany]], which was accustomed to the flavor profile of milk chocolate made from powdered milk, and to the US, which was accustomed to the flavor profile of milk chocolate made through the Hershey's process, and in both cases the unfamiliar flavor proved less popular than they expected.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Danovich |first=Tove |date=2022-01-21 |title=America's chocolate tastes weird to the rest of the world, but most of us don't even notice |url=https://themessenger.com/grid/americas-chocolate-tastes-weird-to-the-rest-of-the-world-but-most-of-us-dont-even-notice |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=The Messenger |language=en |archive-date=2024-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108163557/https://themessenger.com/grid/americas-chocolate-tastes-weird-to-the-rest-of-the-world-but-most-of-us-dont-even-notice |url-status=dead }}</ref>  <gallery mode="packed" heights="100">
File:Hershey-bar-open.JPG|A [[Hershey bar]]|alt=An open Hershey bar
File:Toblerone-Split.jpg|A [[Toblerone]] bar|alt=An open Toblerone bar
File:Cadbury-Buttons.jpg|alt=A collection of Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons|Cadbury Dairy Milk [[Cadbury Buttons|Buttons]]
</gallery>