Students choosing fat-free chocolate milk during school lunch consume more calories, total sugar, protein, minerals and vitamins at lunch.

OBJECTIVE: To examine how milk consumption varies by milk choice and measure the association of milk choice on the nutritional and energetic content of National School Lunch Program (NSLP) lunches. DESIGN: An observational plate waste study using the Digital Photography of Foods Method. SETTING: Data were collected from two suburban South Carolina schools in one district during February and March 2013. PARTICIPANTS: Totally, 968 NSLP lunches selected by 619 kindergarten to fifth grade students. RESULTS: Most students chose chocolate milk (75 %). A multinomial logit model indicated milk choice varied significantly by sociodemographic characteristics. An ordinary least square regression indicated that consumption rates of low-fat white milk were 8·5 % lower than fat-free chocolate milk (P = 0·039) and milk consumption rates varied statistically by sociodemographic characteristics. Ordinary least square regressions found that the consumption of energies and nutrients from NSLP lunches varied with sociodemographic characteristics and milk choice; students selecting chocolate milk consumed 58 more energies (P < 0·001) and 10 more grams of total sugar (P < 0·001) than students selecting low-fat white milk from their NSLP lunches. Students consumed statistically similar energies and nutrients from the non-milk components of their meals. CONCLUSIONS: Students selecting chocolate milk consumed more energies and nutrients from their NSLP lunches with the increases in consumption attributed to the milk component of the meal. The findings have implications for recent changes to NSLP guidelines that allow schools to offer both low-fat and fat-free flavoured milk, reversing the previous ban on low-fat flavoured milk under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

Extended shelf life flavoured dairy drink using dissolved carbon dioxide.

Cardamom flavoured dairy beverage prepared using standardized method was carbonated in glass bottles. Carbonation at 50 psi pressure for 30 s was recommended. The pasteurized flavoured drink, carbonated or otherwise was evaluated for sensory, chemical and microbial quality during its refrigerated storage. The uncarbonated control samples were found to be sensorily acceptable up to 14 days, while the carbonated beverage remained acceptable up to 30 days. Carbonation of drink significantly affected the pH and acidity of product without reducing its acceptability. Carbonation resulted in inhibition of microbes, the effect was pronounced on psychrotrophic count. There was a linear but marginal increase in the pH of the carbonated samples till the 17(th) day of storage; the values diminished thereafter. The carbonated samples also had significantly reduced contents of FFA and soluble nitrogen compared to that of uncarbonated control samples as storage progressed beyond 10 days and this was attributed to inhibited microbial growth.

Consumption of Milk and alternatives decreased among Canadians from 2004 to 2015: evidence from the Canadian community health surveys.

BACKGROUND: Milk and milk products make important contributions to the diet of Canadians. The aim of this study was to examine trends in Milk & Alternatives consumption among Canadians (≥2 years) from 2004 to 2015. METHODS: We used nutrition data from 2 nationally representative cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2004 and 2015 [Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2004 Cycle 2.2 and CCHS-Nutrition 2015] to compare Milk & Alternatives consumption between 2004 and 2015. Data from 24-h dietary recalls were collected using the Automated Multiple-Pass Method (AMPM). RESULT: From 2004 to 2015, the proportion of Canadians consuming Milk & Alternatives food group significantly decreased from 89.5 to 87.7% and the number of servings consumed per day dropped from 1.9 to 1.7. Despite their low energy contribution (12.3% of energy), Milk & Alternatives contributed 45.8% of calcium, 39.9% of vitamin D, and 36.0% of vitamin B12 to the diet of the Canadian population in 2015. Milk & Alternatives were among the top sources of vitamin A, phosphorus and riboflavin. Milk & Alternatives food group was a major contributor to saturated fat intake in both 2004 (31.2%) and 2015 (28.6%). In 2015, dietary intakes of calcium and vitamin D among Milk & Alternatives consumers were 137.8, and 59.4% higher, respectively, than those of non-consumers. CONCLUSION: Daily intake of Milk & Alternatives has decreased in the Canadian population over time, which may adversely affect the nutritional profile of the diet.

Sugar Reduction in Dairy Food: An Overview with Flavoured Milk as an Example.

Owing to the public health concern associated with the consumption of added sugar, the World Health Organization recommends cutting down sugar in processed foods. Furthermore, due to the growing concern of increased calorie intake from added sugar in sweetened dairy foods, the present review provides an overview of different types and functions of sugar, various sugar reduction strategies, and current trends in the use of sweeteners for sugar reduction in dairy food, taking flavoured milk as a central theme where possible to explore the aforementioned aspects. The strength and uniqueness of this review are that it brings together all the information on the available types of sugar and sugar reduction strategies and explores the current trends that could be applied for reducing sugar in dairy foods without much impact on consumer acceptance. Among different strategies for sugar reduction, the use of natural non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs), has received much attention due to consumer demand for natural ingredients. Sweetness imparted by sugar can be replaced by natural NNSs, however, sugar provides more than just sweetness to flavoured milk. Sugar reduction involves multiple technical challenges to maintain the sensory properties of the product, as well as to maintain consumer acceptance. Because no single sugar has a sensory profile that matches sucrose, the use of two or more natural NNSs could be an option for food industries to reduce sugar using a holistic approach rather than a single sugar reduction strategy. Therefore, achieving even a small sugar reduction can significantly improve the diet and health of an individual.

Children and adolescents' attitudes towards sugar reduction in dairy products.

The development of strategies to reduce sugar intake of children and adolescents has been deemed necessary to cope with the global obesity epidemic. In this context, the aims of the present work were to study attitudes towards sugar reduction in three dairy products of children and adolescents of two income levels and to assess if these attitudes were modulated by the inclusion of the traffic light system on labels. A total of 646 children and adolescents from three primary/secondary schools in Montevideo (Uruguay) participated in the study. A total of twelve labels were designed following a full factorial design with three variables: dairy product (3 levels: yogurt, chocolate-flavoured milk and vanilla milk dessert), sugar reduction claim (2 levels: absent and present "20% less sugar") and traffic light system (2 levels: absent and present). Children had to evaluate their expected liking of the labels and to answer a check-all-that-apply question composed of terms related to tastiness, healthfulness and fun. Sugar claim significantly increased children and adolescents' expected liking scores (p=0.01), suggesting they had a positive attitude towards sugar reduction in the evaluated dairy products. However, the influence of sugar reduction claim on hedonic expectations and healthfulness perception was modulated by the inclusion of the traffic-light system on labels (p=0.01). This front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme increased their unhealthfulness perception of products with high sugar content and could potentially discourage their consumption. Age and income modulated the influence of these strategies on hedonic and healthfulness perception (p<0.05).

Stability of aspartame and neotame in pasteurized and in-bottle sterilized flavoured milk.

Analytical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) conditions were standardized along with the isolation procedure for separation of aspartame and neotame in flavoured milk (pasteurized and in-bottle sterilized flavoured milk). The recovery of the method was approximately 98% for both aspartame and neotame. The proposed HPLC method can be successfully used for the routine determination of aspartame and neotame in flavoured milk. Pasteurization (90 °C/20 min) resulted in approximately 40% loss of aspartame and only 8% of neotame was degraded. On storage (4-7°C/7 days) aspartame and neotame content decreased significantly (P<0.05) from 59.70% to 44.61% and 91.78% to 87.18%, respectively. Sterilization (121 °C/15 min) resulted in complete degradation of aspartame; however, 50.50% of neotame remained intact. During storage (30 °C/60 days) neotame content decreased significantly (P<0.05) from 50.36% to 8.67%. Results indicated that neotame exhibited better stability than aspartame in both pasteurized and in-bottle sterilized flavoured milk.

Impact of the removal of chocolate milk from school milk programs for children in Saskatoon, Canada.

Studies in the United States report inclusion of flavoured milk in the diets of children and youth improves nutrient intakes. No research has investigated the contribution of flavoured milk to overall milk intake or the milk preferences of Canadian children. The objective of the study was to measure milk consumption (plain milk and flavoured milk) by children in an elementary school environment and investigate factors contributing to milk choice. A mixed-method research design was applied across 6 schools for 12 weeks. Milk waste was measured in grades 1-8 for 12 weeks. Weeks 1-4 (phase 1) and 9-12 (phase 3) provided both plain milk and flavoured milk as chocolate milk while weeks 5-8 (phase 2) provided plain milk only. Beverage Frequency Questionnaires were used in each phase (in grades 5-8 only) to assess usual beverage consumption. Statistical nutrient modelling was conducted to determine the effects of removing chocolate milk during phase 2 as a milk choice. Later, focus groups were conducted with students in grades 5-8 to determine what influences them to choose/not choose to drink milk. Total milk intake decreased by 12.3% when chocolate milk was removed from the schools (26.6% ± 5.2% to 14.31% ± 1.6%, p < 0.001). Milk choice was influenced by environmental factors as well as taste, cost, convenience, and variety. Total milk intake was associated with location (p = 0.035) and cost (p < 0.001), with rural students and/or those students receiving free milk drinking the greatest amount of milk. Nutrient modelling revealed chocolate milk is more cost-efficient and convenient at providing nutrients than alternative food/drink combinations.