Over ten years ago, on May 16, 2013, I wrote ‘Cadbury Dairy Milk: when chocolate won’t melt, there’s a problem‘, excerpted (emphases mine):

Investigation online revealed that other British consumers have found Dairy Milk no longer melts. The shape and size of the small bars sold in the UK have changed for the worse. The new formulation doesn’t seem to have the same lingering, satisfying taste as before. Mumsnet explored this in detail (strong language alert) as have Independent readers. The British Problems forum also picked up on the changes.

I hope Kraft — Cadbury’s owners since 2010 — are happy with the way they have ruined an iconic British brand and one of the most satisfying treats ever.

The USP — unique selling point — of Dairy Milk was that it was made with a glass and a half of fresh milk. This is how it was marketed in the early 20th century to mothers who worried that it might not have much nutritional value. Cadbury promoted the wholesome milk aspect. The rest was history.

How times have changed. Now there is a move to remove the images of the milk from the packaging altogether. This is Dairy Milk heresy.

Before looking at that, however, Cadbury lovers need to be aware of the new Mondelez International.

In October 2012, Kraft Foods Inc. changed its name to Mondelez International. Kraft Foods Group was spun off to shareholders.

BBC Science Focus unveiled a similar problem with Cadbury Flake, which is the pièce de resistance in a soft-whip ice cream cone.

John Locke from Preston asked why the Flake does not melt in the microwave, to which Luis Villazon from BBC Science Focus replied:

Although Flake is made from milk chocolate, the manufacturing process gives it a different arrangement of fat and cocoa solids, so the melting fat isn’t able to lubricate the cocoa particles to the point where they can flow. In a bain marie, a Flake will never melt. In the microwave, it eventually just burns.

Ugh!

Good grief. Imagine what that is doing to people’s arteries. Anyone mocking should recall that for 70 to 80 years — from the 1930s to the early part of the 21st century — margarine was seen by the medical establishment as being a more healthful food than butter, which comes directly from cows.

Now margarine is rightly seen as partly responsible for clogging people’s arteries. More doctors and dieticians are recommending butter. Better late than never.

The one Cadbury product that still melts is Bournville, the dark chocolate bar. If you need a mix of dark and milk chocolate, as the French often recommend for the correct balance of taste and texture, melt equal quantities of Bournville and your favourite supermarket own-brand of milk chocolate bar and voilà!

I will never eat another Cadbury milk chocolate item as long as I live. And I never liked Flake, anyway. It always tasted fake.