A public tasting of Cadbury's — the favorite chocolate in Ireland and Britain — and good old American-made Hershey's chocolate resulted in big win for the British-made sweet stuff.

Although the contest was supervised by the "official" Royal Society of Chemistry as well a Keele University's chemistry department, American observers were quick to note the contest took place in central London.

"Not exactly a neutral court, was it?" one American from New York chimed in as he savored his Hershey bar.

The tasters came from many parts of the world, including the USA, where the Hershey's bar, like the Cadbury bar in Britain, is a national institution.

Results showed that of the 300 people polled (with nearly two-thirds having been raised outside of the UK) 74% preferred Cadbury, and 26% preferred Hershey's.

Each taster was asked to give each brand a mark out of 10 (with 10 being tastiest); Cadbury received an average mark of 7.1, whereas Hershey's average mark was 5.8.

Of those polled who were raised in North America, 71% preferred Cadbury chocolate.

"They felt intimidated by the presence of so many British police," the American chocolate-lover quipped. "Who wouldn't be?"

The survey was part of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Food 2009 year, looking at all aspects of food production, transportation, storage, consumption and waste.