The article is sorely lacking any substance from what I can tell (or maybe I hit a paywall halfway through), but I've noticed this as well, and I'm just a dumb

The article is sorely lacking any substance from what I can tell (or maybe I hit a paywall halfway through), but I've noticed this as well, and I'm just a dumb American who is not even otherwise particular about sweets. Hershey's is the worst offender but nearly all American-made chocolate just tastes like garage to me. It's bitter (but not in the nice way that dark chocolate is), gritty, overly sweet, and basically completely lacking in flavor. This is especially the true of anything labeled "milk chocolate."