Claim check: Hershey's skinnier chocolates

Hershey's Simple Pleasures Milk Chocolate with Chocolate Crème has "30% less fat vs. the average of the leading milk chocolates," says Hershey's website, yet is "100% delicious!" Not according to our expert tasters, who declared it mediocre at best. It has low chocolate flavor and is chalky and gritty, with a fudgy, frosting-like center. And when we asked 47 staffers to do a blind tasting of Simple Pleasures and full-fat Hershey's Bliss Milk Chocolate with a Meltaway Center, 32 preferred Bliss.

Our experts also tried Nestle's Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters Milk Chocolate, sold in "yummy portions" of 120 calories. The verdict: not so yummy. Skinny Cow is mainly sweet rather than chocolaty, and its caramel filling lacks the butter flavor you'd expect.

Bottom line. Eat a bit of better chocolate. Tasty boxed chocolates at good prices: Godiva Gold Ballotin 36-piece, Ferrero Collection Fine Assorted Confections, and See's Assorted Chocolates. If you need a reason to indulge, note that a recent analysis of research concluded that chocolate may have a small but significant effect in lowering blood pressure slightly in the short term. See our chocolate buying buide for more.