What's Wrong With Chocolate Milk?

Got a problem with chocolate milk?

A growing number of concerned parents and food activists have a BIG problem with it being included in the nation’s school lunches. They say it is one poor nutritional choice among many in school food programs that are setting American children up for obesity and obesity-related health conditions.

Celebrity British chef, Jaime Oliver, is on a crusade he began with a virally downloaded TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference talk in Feb. 2010 on the impact of “food ignorance” on the health of the United States.

Oliver followed the talk up with a popular television series, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, now in its second season, that documents his quest to educate and change the eating habits of the residents in cities small and large.

Oliver has encountered stiff opposition from parents and school officials alike as he has tried to convince them that fresh and healthy food is not only do-able, but necessary to reverse an obesity epidemic that is shortening the life spans of children in the country, and accounts for 10 percent of the country's total health care costs. 

One of the common and most controversial items included in school lunches Oliver has targeted is chocolate milk.

The San Ramon Valley Unified School District’s current menus include chocolate milk.

Oliver feels chocolate milk is emblematic of a mindset that kids will not make healthy food choices for themselves unless the foods are masked by something more desirable, like chocolate, breading, or large amounts of cheese and dressings.

Alexandra Le Ny of San Ramon agrees with Oliver’s assessment, and says, “ I think removing flavored milk is a fabulous move towards having (children) eat a healthier diet.”

She would even push further to remove dairy altogether, because of concerns about hormone and antibiotic contamination in the nation’s milk supply.

Not all parents are on board with the idea that getting rid of chocolate milk will make kids healthier.

Jen Singer, the founder and editor of Mommasaid.net recently wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal that countered Oliver's viewpoint with the assertion that removing chocolate milk will actually result in poorer nutrition, because kids will drink less milk, period, and miss out on the nutritional benefit altogether.

Singer gives the example of her own sons, one of whom she says makes healthy food choices for himself, and always has, because he prefers foods that are regarded as healthier. The other son, she says, would live on a steady diet of ‘junk’ food if she allowed him, and she fears he would not even get the benefits of milk if it were not flavored.

Additionally, parents with pickier eaters are routinely counseled to ‘hide’ good foods in more appetizing choices, such as vegetable purees in chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, and vegetables paired with dips, or masked by smoothies.

Is hiding food in more palatable, but perhaps less nutritionally sound choices really any different that chocolate milk?

Does our local school menu choices concern you? Do you think chocolate milk should be on the menu?