Hershey's
How much caffeine is in Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar?
Sources checked claim by claim by an AI review. Approved for publishing by Oleksii Y. on 2026-10-19.
One 1.5 oz bar of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar has 10 mg of caffeine, according to Center for Science in the Public Interest.
How Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar compares
- One 1.5 oz bar has as much caffeine as less than a sixth of a cup of brewed coffee, which has 94.8 mg per 8 fl oz cup.
- Of the 9 other candy bars and chocolate candies in our candy bars chart, 0 have more caffeine per serving and 9 have less.
How much will be left at bedtime?
1 × 1.5 oz bar of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar
Left at 11:00 PM (8 h later), average metabolism
≈ 3 mg
Range 2–5 mg (fast to slow metabolism)
10 mg is already at or under the 50 mg this tool aims to have left at bedtime.
Estimate from a simple model: half-life of 3, 5 or 8 hours, 50 mg bedtime target. How we calculate
Caffeine by size
| Serving | Caffeine |
|---|---|
| 1.5 oz bar | 10 mg |
| 1.4 oz Hershey's Special Dark bar | 20 mg |
How long does Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar stay in your system?
Our model halves caffeine every 5 hours for average metabolism, and every 3 or 8 hours for fast or slow metabolism. From one 1.5 oz bar of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (10 mg), about 5 mg is still in your body 5 hours later and about 3 mg after 10 hours. If you clear caffeine slowly (an 8-hour half-life), about 4 mg is left after 10 hours.
Estimated caffeine left at 11:00 PM from one 1.5 oz bar (10 mg), using a half-life of 5 hours for average metabolism and 3 to 8 hours for the range. How we calculate
| Had at | Left at bedtime (average) | Range |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 AM (15 h before bed) | ≈ 1 mg | 0–3 mg |
| 12:00 PM (11 h before bed) | ≈ 2 mg | 1–4 mg |
| 3:00 PM (8 h before bed) | ≈ 3 mg | 2–5 mg |
| 6:00 PM (5 h before bed) | ≈ 5 mg | 3–6 mg |
How many fit in a day?
Reference amounts are for caffeine from all sources combined. Counted at the upper end of the stated amount, one serving at a time:
- Up to 400 mg a day for most healthy adults (FDA, EFSA): about 40 servings.
- Up to 200 mg at one time for healthy adults (EFSA): about 20 servings in one go.
- Up to 200 mg a day in pregnancy (EFSA, NHS): about 20 servings.
These are reference amounts for groups of people, not a personal limit. Some people feel jittery or sleep worse on much less. See the cutoff calculator for timing.
Good to know
In CSPI's chart, a Hershey's Special Dark bar has twice the caffeine of the milk chocolate bar, in a slightly smaller bar.
Common questions
How much caffeine is in Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar?
Center for Science in the Public Interest gives 10 mg of caffeine per 1.5 oz bar. Other sizes are in the table on this page.
How many Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar servings can I have in a day?
The FDA and EFSA cite up to 400 mg of caffeine a day, from all sources combined, for most healthy adults. At 10 mg per 1.5 oz bar, that is about 40 servings if Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar is your only source. In pregnancy the reference is 200 mg a day.
How late can I drink Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar?
One serving has about 10 mg, which is at or under the 50 mg our calculator aims to have left at bedtime, so it sets no cutoff for a single serving. Several servings add up.
How long does Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar stay in your system?
Of the 10 mg in one 1.5 oz bar, roughly 5 mg remains after 5 hours and 3 mg after 10 hours with our average 5-hour half-life. From fast to slow metabolism, 10 hours later it is between 1 and 4 mg.
Where the number comes from
- Caffeine chart. Center for Science in the Public Interest. table "Chocolate, ice cream, and yogurt", rows "Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar | 1 bar, 1.5 oz. | 10" and "Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Bar | 1 bar, 1.4 oz. | 20". Hershey's own site gave no caffeine figure we could read on 2026-10-11, so these numbers are CSPI's. Accessed 2026-10-09. Source ↗
Recipes and labels change. If a number here no longer matches the label, the label wins.
General information, not medical advice
If you feel unwell after caffeine — for example chest pain, a fast or irregular heartbeat that does not settle, fainting, confusion or trouble breathing — get urgent medical help. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, take medication, or have a heart, liver or anxiety condition, high blood pressure or a sleep disorder, ask a doctor or pharmacist what amount is right for you.
Sources
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2024). Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much? FDA Consumer Updates. fda.gov ↗
- European Food Safety Authority. Caffeine | EFSA. EFSA topic page (summary of the 2015 Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine). efsa.europa.eu ↗
- NHS. Foods to avoid in pregnancy. NHS. nhs.uk ↗
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