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Researchers at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab have released a new study regarding school chocolate milk that's getting some press.

The study looked at milk consumption in 11 Oregon elementary school cafeterias in which chocolate milk had been banned. After the ban, total daily milk sales declined by almost 10%, white milk sales increased by around 160 cartons per day but almost 30% of that white milk was thrown away, and overall school meal participation dropped by about 7%.

The Cornell Food and Brand Lab is led by Dr. Brian Wansink, whom I've referred to here as a " made clear, he's master of lunchroom trickery:" Wansink is the leading expert on how subtle changes to the physical layout of cafeterias can induce people to make healthier choices without being aware of the manipulation. But as my 2011 TLT interview with him not a proponent of removing less healthy options altogether.

So, not surprisingly, the research team in the Cornell study concluded that rather than banning chocolate milk outright, food service directors should consider the following techniques, all of which may boost white milk consumption:

(1) keeping all beverage coolers stocked with at least some white milk; 2) white milk representing 1/3 or more of all visible milk in the lunchroom; 3) placing white milk in front of other beverages, including chocolate milk, in all coolers; 4) placing white milk crates so that they are the first beverage option seen in all milk coolers; and 5) bundling white milk with all grab and go meals available to students as the default beverage.

Stacy Whitman of School Bites had an excellent post last Friday examining the study in detail, questioning the interpretation of some of its findings and raising some reasonable questions about possible researcher bias. She noted:

While I certainly don't mean to suggest any impropriety, it's interesting to note that Wansink served as executive director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion around the time that MilkPEP started a $500,000 to $1M Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk campaign to increase chocolate milk consumption in schools.

But regardless of the merits and interpretation of this particular study, it doesn't surprise me that overall milk consumption may have dropped when chocolate milk was removed from the cafeteria. Back in 2011, I wrote an epically long and somewhat controversial post on chocolate milk in schools and noted there that:

A recent study which looked at 58 elementary and secondary schools found that on days when only white milk was offered in cafeterias, milk consumption dropped an average of 35 percent. Yes, yes, I know that study was funded by the dairy industry, and maybe it's all bunk. But on a purely anecdotal basis, I have never heard of any school district that did not see a significant, lasting drop in milk consumption when flavored milk was discontinued.

Stacy asked in her School Bites post whether the study findings might have been different if the Cornell study lasted longer than a year:

What would happen if they gave it more time? Would more kids start choosing and drinking white milk as it gradually became the norm?

But as I noted in that same 2011 TLT post, this hadn't proven true in Houston ISD as of the last time I discussed this issue with our Food Services department. Our district's breakfast program only offers white milk and

. . . HISD indicated that - almost one year after the breakfast program was fully rolled out - kids still don't want the white milk, disproving the notion that children inured to flavored milk will eventually drink plain if they have no choice.

So, all of this said, where do I come out on chocolate milk in schools?

The main point of my 2011 post was to question why Jamie Oliver (whose "Food Revolution" show was then on television) was focusing so intensely on banning chocolate milk in American schools at a time when there were, in my opinion, far more pressing school food issues which would have benefitted from his celebrity and clout.

And even now, three years later, there are so many other sources of sugar in kids' diets I'd rather address first, such as the ubiquitous but completely "empty-calorie" sports drinks and sodas many kids consume on a regular basis. Because while I agree with many experts that dairy is not a necessary part of anyone's diet (despite relentless dairy industry propaganda to the contrary), the fact remains that dairy, unlike soda and sports drinks, provides children with protein, calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin D and phosphorous. It's also more readily consumed by most kids than other foods providing some of those nutrients, such as calcium-rich sardines, canned salmon with bones or dark green, leafy vegetables.

It's also worth noting that not all chocolate milk is created equal. Here in Houston ISD, for example, our cafeterias have been offering for years a flavored milk called TruMoo which has 18 grams of sugar per serving. That might sound high, but 12 of those sugar grams are from the lactose that's in white milk as well. So for 1.5 teaspoons of added sugar, kids are consuming an otherwise healthful beverage. Contrast this with traditional flavored milk, such Horizon, which has almost 6 teaspoons of sugar - four times as much! - per serving.

That strikes me as a reasonable nutritional compromise, but if the almost 70 comments that came in on my 2011 post are any indication, passions about flavored milk run high! Let me know in a comment below your thoughts on the Wansink study and/or flavored milk in schools generally.

The Lunch Tray! Join almost 8,000 TLT fans by liking (and then Do You Love The Lunch Tray? ♥♥♥ Then "like" TLT's Facebook page adding it to your news feed or interest lists) to get your Lunch delivered, along with bonus commentary, interesting kid-and-food links, and stimulating discussion with other readers. You can also join almost 5,000 TLT followers on Twitter, see my virtual bulletin boards on Pinterest and find selected TLT posts on The Huffington Post. And be sure to check out my free video for kids about processed food, " Mr. Zee's Apple Factory!"

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Bettina Elias Siegel

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choclate milk twinkies sucking more twinkies

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New Study Argues Against Ban on Chocolate Milk in School Cafeterias - The Lunch Tray

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Researchers at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab have released a new study regarding school chocolate milk that's getting some press. The study looked at milk consumption in 11 Oregon elementary school cafeterias in which chocolate milk had been banned. After the ban, total daily milk sales declined by almost 10%, white milk sales increased by around 160 ...

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Don Farrall / Getty

It would sound like a joke if everyone weren't so up in arms about it. Taking a stand against chocolate milk? It's like canceling Christmas. What could possibly be wrong with something that brings children such joy?

A lot, according to some nutrition experts and school districts that are removing the brown liquid from lunchrooms. One 8-oz. serving of reduced-fat chocolate milk has nearly as many calories and sugar as a 12-oz. can of Coke. Encouraging students to regularly consume the drink, they say, is contributing to an already worrying childhood obesity crisis. (Read a brief history of school lunches.)

As chocolate milk opponents lobby state and federal officials, the dairy industry has responded with an estimated $1 million campaign dubbed "Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk." Launched in early November, the YouTube-intensive strategy is designed to highlight the drink's health benefits (vitamin D, calcium, potassium) and to counter the critics who have pegged it as nothing more than a sugar-laden snack drink.

While milk has been the keystone of America's school lunches since the federally subsidized program was established in 1946, the role of chocolate (and other flavored) milk has become a focus of late following a 2006 rule that required schools to establish comprehensive "wellness programs." Public school districts in Berkeley, Calif., and Boulder, Colo. — two of America's more progressive towns — have removed the drink from their list of daily offerings, opting for low-fat, organic white milk instead. That's a perfect way to force kids to shun milk completely, says the dairy industry.

"Flavored milk really fits two needs," says Ann Marie Krautheim, senior vice president of nutrition affairs for the National Dairy Council. "It meets kids' taste preferences, and it provides the nutrition that they don't get elsewhere."

Some nutrition experts reject such either/or simplification. "There's almost this threat, like "If you don't drink chocolate milk, then your children will not get the nutrition they need!" says Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. For Schwartz, the dairy industry's campaign is one as concerned with market share as it is with nutrition. "The real issue is a food-industry segment saying, "We want to market our product to children. So we are going to add extra sugar that is completely unnecessary to improve the taste so that kids will drink more of our product." And since more than half of all flavored milk in the U.S. is sold to children in schools, she says, there's a lot to be lost if chocolate milk gets kicked out of the cafeteria. (Watch a TIME video on a bacon chocolate bar.)

Take Colorado's Boulder Valley School District, which removed chocolate milk from its lunchrooms this fall at the recommendation of Ann Cooper, the new director of nutrition services. That's about 30,000 students in 50 schools that are no longer stocking chocolate milk. Cooper is outspoken in her belief that school cafeterias need to be overhauled — fresh ingredients, more fruits and vegetables, less sugary snacks. "I'm all for parents having chocolate milk with their kids at home once in a while, or on Sunday morning with waffles, but it doesn't have any place in schools on a daily basis," she says. If a child chooses chocolate milk instead of regular milk every single day for a year, she says, they'll gain about 3 lbs. because of the extra sugar and calories. "Over the course of a K-12 education, that can add up," says Cooper.

As a National Dairy Council video on YouTube points out, "Chocolate milk is the most popular milk choice among children, and it only has 60 more calories than white milk does." Only 60 more calories? "That sort of thing drives me crazy," says Schwartz. "People don't become obese overnight. You have too much sugar here and too much sugar there, and it adds up and adds up and sooner or later just becomes the norm."

Read a brief history of fad diets.

Read "Sweet! Swiss Invent a No-Melt, Low-Cal Chocolate"

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Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com

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Some school districts and nutrition experts are removing chocolate milk from lunchrooms, claiming the drink has too much sugar. The dairy lobby is fighting back with a new campaign

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Milk, cheese and yogurt can be frozen and stored for later use. Freezing milk is perfectly acceptable.

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Serving Flavored Milk in Schools

Flavored milk in schools: Ban it or keep it?

Many school boards and PTAs are embroiled in discussions about whether to remove chocolate milk from cafeterias. On the surface, the argument against flavored milk is logical; in a time when about 20 percent of America's children and teenagers are obese, added sugar to anything is justifiably scrutinized.

But the allegation that flavored milk contributes to obesity is factually incorrect. The opposite is actually the case: milk drinkers, even those that consume flavored milk, tend to weigh less, not more. According to a study published in 2008 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, kids who drank milk were less likely to be overweight. This finding holds true no matter which flavor of milk kids consumed.

No flavored milk, or no milk?

Schools that have removed flavored milk have seen a sharp decline in milk consumption, which is bad news for kids' nutrition since milk contains nine essential nutrients and three nutrients that American children tend to under-consume: calcium, potassium and vitamin D.

The Milk Processors Education Program conducted a nationwide study to determine the impact of dropping flavored milk from school cafeterias. The study included 58 school districts, four of which are in California. The participating schools had independently decided to stop serving flavored milk.

The study found that total milk consumption dropped an average of 35 percent when flavored milk was eliminated. Consumption dropped because fewer students were selecting milk and more milk was thrown away. Schools saw a 23 percent drop in the amount of milk sold.

It was assumed that the removal of flavored milk would cause an initial decline in milk consumption followed by a fairly quick rise in plain milk consumption once students adapt. But the data tells a different story: two years after flavored milk was removed, consumption continued at the lower level.

Where's the calcium?

It's a little known fact that nine out of ten girls and seven out of ten boys currently do not get enough calcium in their diets. With life expectancy on the rise in the U.S., osteoporosis has become of greater concern among older Americans. Food decisions that kids make today, will impact their future health later in life. And we're seeing consequences of lower bone mineral density early in life, as well: children and adolescents today are more likely to break a bone than their parents were.

Some argue that the nutrients lost when kids stop drinking milk can be replaced by other food sources. But to replace all the nutrients from one serving of flavored milk, schools would need to provide two ounces of cheese, one medium egg, one cup of fortified orange juice and a half cantaloupe over the course of a week. That adds up to a lot of extra calories and cost!

Eliminating excess sugar from kids' diets is a worthwhile goal. The added sugar in flavored milk is miniscule (less than 3% of a kid's daily sugar intake) ¹. We need to place the focus on what makes the most difference to a child's overall health. Flavored milk offers a practical way of ensuring that kids get all the nutrients they need, even if it takes a few more grams of sugar to do it.

1 NHANES (2003-2006), Ages 2-18 years

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Serving Flavored Milk in Schools Many school boards and PTAs are embroiled in discussions about whether to remove chocolate milk from cafeterias. On the surface, the argument against flavored milk is logical; in a time when about 20 percent of America's children and teenagers are obese, added sugar to anything is justifiably scrutinized.

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Chocolate milk contains the same great nutrient-rich package as white milk, including vitamin D, calcium and potassium - "nutrients of concern" that most kids fail to get enough of, according to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Low-fat and fat-free milk (white or flavored) contain a unique contribution of nine essential nutrients, which are important for growth and development. In fact, authoritative nutrition guidance recognizes the positive role of flavored milk.

Milk in Schools

Flavored milk, especially chocolate milk, has come under discussion in many schools across the country. The issue has triggered strong emotions as well as many myths.

Drinking fat-free chocolate milk can help children get their three daily servings of milk as recommended by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Plus, when kids drink nutrient-rich flavored milk, they improve their overall diet quality.

Today's milk in schools is regulated by nutrition standards through the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2015. Schools must provide low-fat or fat-free white milk or flavored milk to children. To comply with these standards and meet consumer demands, most milk processors have reformulated flavored milk for school, lowering the sugar and calorie content. Many schools are currently serving milk with the following:

0 grams of fat

130 calories

18 grams of total sugar (12 grams of lactose naturally found in all white milk and 6 grams of actual added sugar)

Concerns About Added Sugar

Every eight ounce glass of milk, white or flavored, naturally contains 12 grams of sugar in the form of lactose. Today's flavored milk in school contains an average of only 6 grams of added sugars - the sugars we want to minimize in the diet.

On average flavored milk contributes just three percent of added sugars and two percent of calories to children's diets. In comparison, on average, carbonated soda and fruit drinks contribute 45 percent of added sugars and 9 percent of calories to kids' diets, and many of these beverages provide few nutrients. Research published by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association recognized in 2008 that Drinking Flavored or Plain Milk Is Positively Associated with Nutrient Intake and Is Not Associated with Adverse Effects of Weight Status in US Children and Adolescents. Children who drink flavored milk have better quality diets, do not have higher intakes of added sugar or fat and are just as likely to be at a healthy weight compared to kids who do not drink flavored milk.

The Unintended Consequences of Eliminating Flavored Milk from Schools

A national study reviewing The Impact on Student Milk Consumption and Nutrient Intakes from Eliminating Flavored Milk in Schools demonstrated that eliminating flavored milk from elementary schools resulted in a dramatic 35% drop in milk consumption which did not rebound over time. Similar results occurred in Colorado.

More recent studies showed similar decreases in milk consumption when flavored milk is removed from schools. The following studies provide support for how flavored milk helps students drink milk and consume valuable nutrients:

A Canadian study published in 2015 concluded that overall milk consumption decreased by 48% in a 4-week period when flavored milk was removed from school milk programs.

Additional Resources

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Flavored Milk - Western Dairy Association

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Chocolate milk contains the same great nutrient-rich package as white milk, including vitamin D, calcium and potassium - "nutrients of concern" that most kids fail to get enough of, according to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Low-fat and fat-free milk (white or flavored) contain a unique contribution of nine essential nutrients, which are important for growth and development.