Campaign to push for chocolate milk

MILWAUKEE — 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.

The new ad campaign from the dairy industry, set to launch today, 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.

The "Raise your hand for chocolate milk" campaign starts with an ad in USA Today featuring chocolaty brown colors and the launch of a Web site that asks people to sign a petition declaring their support for chocolate milk in school.

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.

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 $500,000 to $1 million.

She said most kids choose chocolate milk, but without it they drink juice, soda or water, which don't have the same nutrients. The facts — that chocolate milk does have nutrients — are getting lost in the debate over school lunches, she said.

"If there's even a chance chocolate milk might get taken out of schools, that really can do more harm than good," she said.

Experts like Marlene Schwartz, deputy directory of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, said kids have too much sugar already and chocolate milk has no place in schools.

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.

"I don't believe children are going to go on a thirst strike and refuse to drink anything," she said.

Chocolate milk does have its defenders, even among nutritionists.

"It's better to get the milk in with a little bit of sugary flavoring than have them pick almost any alternative," said Connie Weaver, head of the department of Food and Nutrition at Purdue University and a spokeswoman for the American Society for Nutrition. She has received research money from the dairy industry, but not on chocolate milk, she said.