And flavoured milk also takes a hit

Monday, October 4, 2010

The Ontario Ministry of Education's ban on sugar drinks in high schools will eliminate 500 ml chocolate milk containers starting next September, citing its sugar content. Dairy Farmers of Ontario hopes to get this changed and notes that this trend appears to be sweeping in from the United States. Officials in West Virginia, for example, are determined to clean up the state's reputation, right or wrong, as having the least healthy diet in the United States.British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's primetime six-part TV show Food Revolution on ABC had an effect. He declared flavoured milk to be no healthier than a soft drink because of added sugar. Schools in Washington, D.C., dropped flavoured milk in June, and Florida wants to do the same, even though the Bradenton Herald says nutritionists warn kids are likely to become "non milk drinkers."

Not everyone with the best interests of children in mind favours the ban. According to the Associated Press, Richard Goff, director of the child nutrition program in Cabell County, West Virginia, says that when chocolate and strawberry flavoured milks were temporarily pulled from schools, overall milk consumption dropped 25 per cent and kids started bringing soda pop from home.

Goff says the amount of sugar added to chocolate milk varies from brand to brand, but it's always less than in sodas. Flavoured milk has been available in schools in West Virginia for at least 20 years, he says. BF