The real reason American chocolate tastes terrible - it has to do with vomit

If you were to choose the country that produces the best chocolate, it's fair to say that the United States would be far from the top of that pile.

American chocolate tastes distinctively different from the kind made in Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand or the UK - and most of the time, British people agree that the taste is inferior, according to the Daily Mail.

But why does it taste so terrible? The secret lies with a chemical that is also found in parmesan cheese, rancid butter - and vomit.

American chocolate is renowned for its slightly sour or tangy taste. 

And some experts believe that's because some companies such as Hershey's puts its milk through a process called controlled lipolysis.

This breaks down the fatty acids in the milk and produces butyric acid - the chemical that gives vomit its very distinctive smell and acrid taste.

Hershey's has never said if its chocolate contains the acid or if it uses the process - but chocolatiers say the taste of the chocolate points to controlled lipolysis being used.

It's said that other US chocolate manufacturers simply add the acid to their products to recreate Hershey's distinctive taste.

In 2015, Hershey's overhauled its recipe to reduce the amount of genetically modified ingredients in its chocolate - another reason why so many people think American chocolate tastes worse than its European cousins.

Some people say the presence of the emulsifier PGPR also carries with it the taste and smell of vomit.

But Hershey's say there is less than 1 per cent of PGPR in its milk chocolate, and it upped the levels of cocoa butter in 2015.

Another key difference between American and British chocolate is in the quantities of sugar, milk and cocoa solids.

American chocolate is far sweeter than chocolate in Britain, with sugar being the main ingredient.

Meanwhile, milk is often the main ingredient in British milk chocolate.

American chocolate also often contains far fewer cocoa solids than British chocolate. In Britain, a chocolate bar must contain at least 20 per cent cocoa solids to qualify as chocolate.

But in the US, that figure can be as low as 10 per cent. 

MailOnline has asked Hershey's for comment. 

- Daily Mail