by josie
Got (just) milk? The FDA could change labeling requirements that currently require milk manufacturers to reveal when their products contain artificial sweeteners.
Your milk mustache could eventually contain more than just milk, if the International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation have their way. Both trade groups are petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change labeling requirements that currently require milk manufacturers to reveal when their products contain artificial sweeteners.
And we’re not just talking about drinks like chocolate milk. The dairy industry is asking the FDA to make an exception for 18 dairy products, meaning your favorite dairy foods like yogurt and kefir could soon be packing hidden non-nutritive sweeteners too.
In all fairness to the dairy industry, the proposed changes wouldn’t make it totally impossible to find out if your milk contains sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose or saccharin. These would still be included in the ingredient list that accompanies the Nutrition Facts panel. However, the front of the package, which is now required to say “reduced calorie chocolate milk” would simply say “chocolate milk.”
According to the dairy industry, the reason for the change is that that kids drink less milk when it’s labeled “reduced calories” or “no added sugar.” But the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which is urging the FDA to “keep milk milk,” counters that research doesn’t support this claim. In fact, some research reveals that tweens may actually be more likely to choose foods that make these statements. Who knew?
This all begs the question: Why do dairy products need to contain artificial sweeteners at all? Flavored milk isn’t even one of the top sources of sugar in kids’ diets anyway. Plus, research reveals that children who chug chocolate and other flavored milks don’t end up consuming more sugar or calories — or even weigh more — than non-milk drinkers. But they are more likely to get the nutrients they need. So what’s the big deal? Considering that flavored milk serves up nine essential nutrients (including ones we don’t get enough of like calcium, potassium and vitamin D) plus 8 grams of high quality protein per cup, it’s practically a calorie bargain.
However, people don’t always bother to turn over the package to read the ingredient list. “It’s not the government’s job to make people read food labels, but it is their job to make food labels easier to decipher so people will want and be able to read them,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, M.A., R.D., author of Read It Before You Eat It: How to Decode Food Labels and Make the Healthiest Choice Every Time (Plume, 2010). “Putting any ingredient modifications on the front of the package does just that.”
No matter what happens, it won’t be any time soon: Even if the FDA gives the thumbs up to loosening milk labeling, it could take years before we see any difference. Back in the early ’90s, the dairy industry petitioned the FDA to make similar changes for ice cream. But when the FDA gave the nod, it instituted a three-year waiting period to give the public time sufficient time to realize that reduced-calorie ice cream contained artificial sweeteners.
Bottom line: The best way to drink your milk is without any sweeteners at all. But if chocolate milk is the only way you (or your kids) are going to drink it, go for it. Just skip the artificial sweeteners and the sugar-heavy prepackaged flavored milks. Instead, make your own healthier version from 1 percent or nonfat milk and a calorie-controlled squirt of chocolate syrup — and drink it guilt-free.
Photo credit: Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
