Chocolate Milk - Double the benefits of Milk

The Battle Over Chocolate Milk 05/15/2011
By Gary Truitt
My father was in the dairy business. He did not milk cows but, rather, worked for a small local dairy. When I was in grade school and had a holiday from class, I would willingly get up at 4am to accompany him on his route. After a hard day of work, I was rewarded with a bottle of the coldest chocolate milk I have ever tasted. To this day, chocolate milk is one of my favorite drinks. But, unfortunately, this cold, delicious and nutritious drink is under attack. A cadre of self appointed experts and do-gooders has decided to take away our chocolate milk.The invention of milk chocolate by the Dutch in the 1800s spurred the development of chocolate milk. Adding chocolate syrup to milk was the first flavored milk product in the 20th century. Today, a variety of colors and flavors of milk are available. The dairy industry has encouraged the development of exotic flavored milk products as a way to get children to drink more milk. Milk provides the calcium and other nutrients that are lacking in the diets of today’s children. However, some food celebrities and busybody school administrators are working to remove chocolate and other flavored milk products from schools. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has declared war on the American diet with a promotion called “food revolution.” This nauseatingly self-righteous, British import has been on a rant to eliminate chocolate milk from schools. He recently scored a victory when the Los Angeles school system agreed to remove flavored milk from the school menu. “America and Britain need to be radical in its approach to the food revolution,” said Oliver. The reasons given for the ban are the usual suspects: obesity and diabetes. While Oliver and his food phobiacs focus on the sugar content of chocolate milk, they ignore the benefits the drink provides. According to Chocolate Milk.com, chocolate milk has substantial qualities that help improve your overall health, “Studies show that when the two items, milk and chocolate, are combined, the nutritional benefits of each doubles their effects on your body. There is no real reason not to drink this ultimate kids’ drink as it has been proven to aid in all sorts of health benefits from prevention of cancer to helping your body build stronger muscle and bone. It makes the optimal drink not just after exercise, but any time to really aid your body in a number of ways.” Banning chocolate milk in school does not make kids healthier, but does make their diets worse. The Milk Processors Education Program reports that milk consumption dropped by an alarming 35 percent in schools that kicked out chocolate milk. So, in the name of reducing sugar intake, Mr. Oliver is willing to reduce the vitamins and minerals growing children need which are provided so well by milk. A food service director at a Massachusetts school system that was considering banning flavored milk was quoted as saying, “Milk especially is an extremely nutrient dense food and that we serve breakfast and lunch here and especially in some of the schools that have high free and reduced populations, this is the only place where they‘re going to get that milk, which they so need.” A variety of credible organizations have come to chocolate milk’s defense, including the School Nutrition Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association, American Heart Association, and National Medical Association. They argue that the nutritional value of flavored low-fat or skim milk outweighs the harm of added sugar.The battle over chocolate milk is just another example of problem that is not a problem and does not need a fix. Childhood obesity, along with adult obesity, is a problem, but one that is not going to be solved by restricting food choices. We must educate and motivate people to make good healthy choices and to take personal responsibility for their own health and the health of their children. Big mouth celebrities like Oliver need to stick to cooking, and school superintendents need to keep their hands off the lunch menu.