Not So Sweet Facts About Flavored Milk

My friend Gina and I, both nutritionists, love watching any program that ignites our inner fire about nourishing and feeding the world with healthy, whole foods. So when ABC came out with Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, we were ecstatic. Finally a TV program that would inspire, titillate and get our juices flowing.

Among many issues brought forth by Jamie Oliver, one thing stood out to me, and that was the insistence of having flavored milk (pink or chocolate milk) as an option in the school lunch program. After researching a bit, I even found a flier designed for nutritionists and teachers by the dairy council, speaking of the benefits of including this in our child's diet. Here is a link to it should you decide to explore this issue further: http://www.havemilk.com/client_images/flavored_milk_ws_new.pdf.

I am here to share with you a very simple sheet of facts that will impact your view of this seemingly small concern. Not too much reading, and an significant end.

Here are the facts:

3 teaspoons is the amount of naturally occurring lactose that is in regular milk

+

4 teaspoons is the amount of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that is added to flavored milk

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7 teaspoons is the amount of TOTAL sugar in flavored milk (the same amount of sugar in an 8 oz. can of soda pop)

In the school programs, the recommended serving size for children of milk is 8 ounces. If they eat both breakfast and lunch at school, they are getting a total of 16 oz. of flavored milk, or 14 teaspoons of sugar (8 of which is the fat-inducing corn syrup). No wonder kids cannot sit still in school!

Although I have issue with shoving dairy products down our children's throats when it is estimated that 75% of people on the planet are lactose intolerant to some degree (and 75-90% of Asian, African, Native American, or Southern European descent), the least we could do is to ban this sugary flavored addition to our school meal programs as a start.

Why is sugar, and specifically high fructose corn syrup, bad for us and our kids? Here is a brief list:

• High in calories, low in nutrients
• Promotes weight gain (HFCS promotes weight gain more than other sugars because it is processed by the liver, which when burdened with too much - as is the case above - immediately shuffles it off as fat). Here is a link to a study showing this link: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/76/5/911
• Promotes mood disorders because of blood sugar fluctuations and exacerbated cravings
• Mercury toxicity - in a recent study published in Environmental Health, 50% of the HFCS samples studied contained mercury. Mercury is a toxin that can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral problems associated with autism.
• Genetically modified - although the milk may not look like a Frankenstein experiment to your kids, it is. This corn sweetener used has been genetically modified. Among many concerns about GMO foods, one that is the most predominant is causing dangerous food allergies and immune deficiencies.

Where DID the food go?

The bottom line. To ensure that your kids are getting adequate nutrition, brown bag their lunch. My daughter loves a water bottle with ice cubes and mountain spring water (fresh from our well!) in her lunch. She gets calcium, potassium, protein and vitamin A from the fruits, veggies, and nuts that are in her diet - and without all the added hormones, antibiotics, and excess phosphorus that are in conventional milk.

Urge your schools to ban flavored milk and take a small step in increasing the quality of life of future generations.

Join the food revolution and sign Jamie Oliver's petition for American here: