Kindly note: Actual article (Italics are my comments)
By EMILY FREDRIX (AP) – Nov 8, 2009 (and Supermom101 - my comments are in italics)
MILWAUKEE (Boston) — The creators of the "Got Milk?" campaign are getting ready to make a big push to keep chocolate milk on kids' minds and on school lunch menus, a plan that has some educators and obesity activists none too pleased. (My husband thinks that cow's milk was flavored back in the days because it was going sour. Doesn't it have more sugar than most candy bars?)
The new ad campaign from the dairy industry, set to launch Monday, emphasizes that sugary flavorings are ways to get kids to drink milk. Without them, some youngsters won't drink regular milk and won't get its nutrients, the ads say. (And the reason that we need to drink another mammal's milk is... Suppose one could claim that a candy bar has "nutrients" too?)
The new ad campaign from the dairy industry, set to launch Monday, emphasizes that sugary flavorings are ways to get kids to drink milk. Without them, some youngsters won't drink regular milk and won't get its nutrients, the ads say. (And the reason that we need to drink another mammal's milk is... Suppose one could claim that a candy bar has "nutrients" too?)
The "Raise your hand for chocolate milk" campaign starts Monday with an ad in USA Today featuring chocolatey brown colors and the launch of a Web site that asks people to sign a petition declaring their support for chocolate milk in school. (Please visit http://www.foodincmovie.com/ and sign the petition to support healthy food choices in our schools.)
But some educators and obesity experts say kids get enough calcium — essential for bone growth — and will drink white milk if it's the only milk offered. They say kids get too much sugar, which is heightening America's obesity problem, and schools shouldn't serve chocolate milk at all. (Why isn't water a beverage choice?)
The idea behind the campaign is to draw a distinction between chocolate milk and the soda and candy that have come under attack in schools, said Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program, the industry marketing group that developed the campaign with the National Dairy Council. Godfrey said the effort will cost between $500,000 and $1 million. (Is chocolate cow's milk a candy beverage? "They" already control the beverage choices set by the U.S.D.A. Four types of cow's milk and juice. No water or soy milk are offered on the menus. If "they" are truly concerned about the nutritional needs of our youth, why don't they take the $1,000,000 and donate it to schools that would benefit from a garden?)
She said most kids choose chocolate milk, but without it they drink juice, soda or water, which don't have the same nutrients. (Since when do I need a science degree to know that the "nutrients" in chocolate milk are the same as a candy bar? Last time I checked when our children run off the football field or basketball court they don't reach for a milk bottle. The facts — that chocolate milk does have nutrients — are getting lost in the debate over school lunches, she said. (What "nutrients" does chocolate milk have?)
"If there's even a chance chocolate milk might get taken out of schools, that really can do more harm than good," she said. (She must really, really believe what she's saying. What harm would come besides the sale of chocolate milk would decline?)It's not clear how many schools have chocolate milk or are pulling it. But parents and school districts are becoming increasingly concerned and asking for more information, said Margie Saidel, a vice president with Chartwells School Dining Services, which manages food programs in 600 districts and supports chocolate milk. (Thank goodness our 10 year old informed me this morning that after December chocolate milk will be coming off our local school lunch menu. The horrors! What's next? Offering our children real apples, pears and oranges. Or cow's milk without added growth hormones?)
But experts like Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, want chocolate milk tossed. She said kids have too much sugar already and chocolate milk has no place in schools. (Thank goodness a voice of reason and from a nice ivy league school to boot.)
Dairy products are a common source of added sugar in children's diets, so that's why parents and educators consider removing them, she said. But the research does not point to any calcium shortages when chocolate milk is removed in schools. (Calcium shortages? Isn't calcium added to cow's milk any way. Doesn't orange juice have calcium added. Whew...I've been really worried about calcium shortages.)
