New York schools may ban chocolate milk

The New York City Department of Education wants to ban chocolate milk from public schools. The reason is the potential health problems that can be caused by consuming such milk, in particular, the risks associated with the sugar content of the drink.

Sources in the Department said that its head, Richard Carranza, insisted that students use only white milk, writes New York Post.

“The thought is that these kids are already getting too much sugar, why should they also get it from milk?” Said one source, adding that high school is already discussing how to introduce changes.

Other school districts, from San Francisco to Washington, DC, have already banned flavored milk. In New York, concern about dairy products arose as far back as the 2006 year: then the choice of milk for students was limited to drinks with low or zero fat content.

But until now, the city has resisted the complete exclusion of chocolate milk from the menu of schoolchildren.

The opinions of the children and parents of New York have already been divided, even within families.

“It would be awful to take away chocolate milk from people,” says Katerina Ditommasa, a 10-year-old girl in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

Her mother, Joanna, believes that the exclusion of chocolate milk will not solve school nutritional problems.

“Schools serve other sugary drinks that are no better - juices and soda,” she said. "The real problem is that dining in New York is generally unhealthy, prepackaged and full of preservatives."

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Katherine's dad Luke is more openly looking at the ban on chocolate milk.

"I'm not a healthy lifestyle fanatic," he said, "but that's not a bad idea."

Dairy farmers in the northern part of the state say that abandoning chocolate milk will reduce milk consumption by children, which will ultimately harm their health, not to mention the losses of the farmers themselves.

A group of dairy farmers sought help from local members of Congress who sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“More than two-thirds of the milk served in schools is flavored. This is an important way children get the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development, ”the letter says.

One of the politicians, Rep. Anthony Brindisi, told The Post: “The school system is very large. Now there are times that dairy farmers are already in crisis and are faced with great uncertainty. ”

The Department of Education emphasized that no final decision was made.

“Our priority is student health and well-being, and every day we offer a variety of healthy, delicious and free meals that exceed USDA standards,” the statement said.

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The San Francisco Unified School District, previously run by Carranza, banned flavored milk shortly after his departure in 2016. Although Los Angeles did the same in 2011, in 2017 chocolate milk was returned - it was found that the children had stopped drinking any milk altogether.

8 ounces (227 ml) of skim milk served in local public schools contains 120 calories and 20 grams of sugar, 8 grams of which is added sugar, according to the City Department of Health.

The same amount of skimmed white milk contains 90 calories and 12 grams of sugar, no added sugar in this drink.