Brad Reese Accuses Hershey Company of Changing Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Recipe

The grandson of the man who invented the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is publicly criticizing The Hershey Company, accusing the candy giant of quietly changing the recipe of certain products sold by the iconic brand.

Brad Reese, grandson of founder H.B. Reese, whose company merged… pic.twitter.com/f5LffMxMCx

— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) February 19, 2026

Brad Reese, grandson of founder H.B. Reese, whose company merged with Hershey in the 1960s, published an open letter Saturday alleging that Hershey has replaced traditional ingredients like milk chocolate and peanut butter with lower-cost substitutes in parts of the Reese’s product line.

"My grandfather built Reese's on a simple, enduring architecture: milk chocolate + peanut butter," Brad Reese wrote.

"I went and bought a bag, and I took a couple bites, and I had to throw the bag in the garbage," Reese said. "I couldn't eat it. It was not edible, and I looked at the packaging … and there was no milk chocolate, there was no peanut butter — it was all vegetable oils and fats."

According to the Hershey Company website, here is the ingredient list for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups:

Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Milk Fat, Lactose, Lecithin, PGPR)

Peanuts

Sugar

Dextrose

Salt

TBHQ & Citric Acid (TO MAINTAIN FRESHNESS)

It looks like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups do contain milk chocolate and peanuts.