Milk lobby initiates marketing campaign at kids to keep chocolate milk in schools

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by: E. Huff, staff writer
Tags: chocolate milk, schools, health news

(NaturalNews) The commercial milk industry is planning to initiate a nationwide marketing campaign on Monday designed to keep chocolate milk in schools. Soda, candy, and other junk foods have been undergoing criticism recently for contributing to childhood obesity, leading the milk lobby to campaign for support of its sugary milk product, despite limited nutritional benefits.

Touting fears over kids choosing juice or water instead of plain milk when faced with no sweetened milk options, the developers of the "Got Milk?" campaign plan to appeal to the public to sign a petition in favor of keeping chocolate milk in schools. This is based on the idea that kids need more milk in order to assure their dietary supply of calcium.

Supporters of chocolate milk's removal from schools claim that the sugar added to chocolate milk promotes diabetes and obesity, while those that oppose its removal allege that more harm than good will be done by depriving children of a sweetened milk option.

Despite claims that children would begin to boycott beverages in general if they were unable to drink chocolate milk, the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colorado has experienced widespread acceptance of plain milk among children. The district's director of nutrition services has been working tirelessly for years to promote better nutrition in schools and lauds the removal of chocolate milk from her district.

Various nutritionists and obesity experts, on the other hand, say that many children are choosing other available sweet beverages anyway and that, at least with chocolate milk, the children are able to receive nutrients found only in milk.

The nutrition profile of commercially processed milk is another issue coming under fire. Pasteurized, homogenized processed milk is being increasingly recognized as a harmful, toxic substance that serves no practical purpose in benefitting the body.

Raw, whole milk from clean, pasture-raised cows is far different from the dead, milky substance available on most store shelves. When pasteurized, the beneficial enzymes that aid in digestion are destroyed, as are a great majority of the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that industry representatives claim are present in their product.

Processed milk is also a contributor to lactose intolerance, allergies, and other diseases, supporting the case for the removal of all processed milk from schools, especially the sweetened kind.

Clever marketing that entices children will not change the fact that processed chocolate milk is unhealthy for children, nor will it change the fact that processed milk in general is bad for children's health. Children should be encouraged to choose healthy, whole foods and drinks and to limit their refined sugar intake as much as possible.

Sources for this story include:

Industry pushes chocolate milk in schools – The Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/...

Which do you choose? A comparison of pasteurized and raw milk – A Campaign for Real Milk
http://www.realmilk.com/whichchoose.html