Global manufacturer Nestlé has reformulated its Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband bars, with the products now described as being covered in a “milk chocolate flavour coating”.

This marks a change from the bars’ previous labelling, which described them as covered in milk chocolate.

In the UK, milk chocolate is only allowed to be labelled as such if it contains a minimum of 20% milk solids and 20% cocoa solids. This rises to 25% cocoa solids in the EU.

This comes as chocolate prices have increased as a result of a rise in cocoa prices caused by adverse weather in cocoa regions in West Africa. In its latest grocery market share, Worldpanel by Numerator shared that chocolate prices had increased by 18.4% on the year in the UK,

Nestlé stated that the changes had been “carefully developed and sensory tested” with taste and quality being its “top priority at all times”.

A Nestlé spokesperson said: “We’ve recently updated the recipes for our Toffee Crisp range and Blue Riband… as always, we keep our ingredients up to date and clearly labelled on pack, so confectionery fans can continue to enjoy our products with confidence.

“Like every manufacturer, we’ve seen significant increases in the cost of cocoa over the past years, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products. We continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible. To continue to offer shoppers great value and enjoyment, it is sometimes necessary to adjust the recipes of some of our products. Retail pricing is at the discretion of individual retailers.

“This update is specific to our Toffee Crisp range and Blue Riband, and there are no plans to make the same change across our other chocolate products.”