Chocolate milk making comeback in Canadian schools

Chocolate milk, that gateway treat to childhood obesity, is once again OK to drink in some Canadian schools.

It seems the nutritional value of milk for kids outweighs concerns over the sugar hit the chocolate delivers.

The Calgary Public School Board has re-instated the drink loathed by many nutritionists after its dietician found a low-sugar alternative that met health requirements, the National Post reported Tuesday.

Edmonton's board also implemented nutritional guidelines this school year that allow two per cent chocolate milk because it's still on Alberta's list of healthy foods, the Post said. The decision came despite a campaign by a Grade 5 class to ban chocolate milk that earned praise from TV chef Jamie Oliver.

"It's a favourite. It's sort of a treat," Cathy Faber, a superintendent with the Calgary Board of Education, told the Post. "I think people are willing to let go of a lot of what is known as unhealthy food, but this was one that they were struggling with."

Chocolate milk's comeback in schools owes a lot to lobbying by the dairy industry. The industry has cut the drink's sugar and fat content and launched a publicity campaign that includes ads featuring Peanuts cartoon characters sporting chocolate-milk moustaches.

Chocolate milk remains unwelcome in many U.S. school systems, called "soda in drag," by the head of nutrition services of one Colorado school board, according to The Associated Press.

"If you have flavored milk, that's candy," Jamie Oliver told The AP.

Ontario considered banning the sale of chocolate milk in containers larger than 250 milliliters in high schools two years ago until the education minister "clarified" school nutritional guidelines, according to the Toronto Sun.

Elementary school children still won't be sold chocolate-milk containers larger than one cup.

The Post said that since considering the ban, Ontario has become one of the drink's most enthusiastic promoters.

U.S. nutritionist Rachel Johnson, who toured Canada on behalf of the dairy industry to discuss the benefits of chocolate milk, said American schools are reconsidering their bans after milk consumption dropped.

"In those schools where they've collected the data, we know what's happening in terms of milk consumption," she told the Post. "There is now an awareness of wow, let's not throw the baby out with the bath water with this knee-jerk lets-just-give-them-skim milk approach."

But teacher Adrienne Swelander, whose Grade 5 class spearheaded a campaign to ban it from Edmonton's Westglen School, said students have successfully switched to white milk and have even begun demanding healthy treats such as fruits and vegetables for class parties.

"The kids, they're not blind," she told the Post. "They see it that maybe it's because the dairy industry is a stakeholder in this whole thing, and they make more money if they make chocolate milk."