Thoughts on chocolate milk?

[nona]

I give DS the gummy kid's calcium supplements.

[Mom to M&M]

Since DS doesn't get enough calcium from food (or drink) sources we give a calcium supplement daily. My ND highly recommended liquid calcium (it's an ionic calcium concentrate that is very easily absorbed) from New Beginnings Nutritionals. We add 1.5 tsp daily to his juice or water and haven't had any problems!

[~Sara~]

Thanks for the tips, gals!

[deb]

I use less sugar Nesquik syrup - no artificial sweetener:
Ingredients
SUGAR, WATER, COCOA, COLOUR, SALT, CITRIC ACID, VANILLIN, POTASSIUM SORBATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE.

Just for comparison, here is what as far as I can tell is the same product in the States: "SUGAR, WATER, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI*, LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, CITRIC ACID, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), XANTHAN GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, RED 40, BLUE 1, YELLOW 6. MADE ON EQUIPMENT THAT ALSO PROCESSES MILK, WHEAT AND SOY. " (boldface mine)  So not only do we have more additives, but a LOT of them are artificial colors here in the States. So really, the "is chocolate milk OK/good/bad/dreadful question simply can't be answered universally.

[Peek-a-boo]

We give the gummy bear calcium supplements (but get them cheaper):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PT8NQ4/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000WOOG1S&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=09YYQDB2NZE1W03J9RBS

[Lemonthyme]

What about trying milk with a little bit of vanilla extract (natural vanilla) in it?  It gives a kind of sweetness without actually adding sugar or anything artificial.

[Tweakster]

I don't get the need to add colour when there's already cocoa in it?  I wonder if ours, which lists 'colour' has the same but doesn't have to list it that way due to regulations?

Ah well in any case it's a drop literally and it's not every day for us so I'm not bothered.  If he chooses choc milk over juice or pop (let's face it protecting them from Coke is going to be seriously hard unless they can do away with that evil beverage!) then I'm actually happy. 
 

[deb]

We've managed 9-1/2 years of Coke protection with two determined Spiriteds (even with DH drinking some now and again), so definitely not impossible. I think between them they may have had 5 sips of Coke products ever, so they know what it tastes like. The odd root beer shared with a parent is about it since then.

Oh, and the US food processors seem to add food coloring to EVERYTHING. In Europe if I get, say, a normal (as in non-organic) strawberry yogurt or ice cream, the red/pink color comes from.... strawberries. Here it's almost always artificial - in addition to the strawberries, which ALREADY make it pink. And it has probably twice as much sweetener as, say, the Canadian "equivalent," and I use that term loosely. (Ask Stacy about American yogurt vs Canadian! I thought she was going to gag - she couldn't finish the 4-ounce cup.  ) But because I've seen how my kids react to the coloring, it's not something we can afford to do even a drop of more than, say weekly unless someone comes to take me to a rubber room. LOL Vanilla and stevia work wonders on rice milk and yogurt here, and I know exactly what is and isn't in them without having to wonder.

I wonder about the Canadian regulations about colorings, whether they're natural or artificial...... *off to Google some more*

I'm learning all kinds of stuff on this thread.

[Mashi]

In Europe if I get, say, a normal (as in non-organic) strawberry yogurt or ice cream, the red/pink color comes from.... strawberries.

Um, no.  Not sure where you have that idea from but no, that is not true. At least not European wide, perhaps in some countries, but a blanket statement like that about Europe is incorrect. A lot of the time it comes from something like "strawberry syrup" for instance.  Which is strawberry concentrate, a LOT of sugar, and some thickener as well as preservatives and added colourings.  Natural colourings like beets may often be used, but a lot of artificial colours are used as well, however they are labelled and indicated when it is artificial.   Europe is generally IMO more aware and more on-top of things like food additives, but that does not mean in any way that they do not exist.  I think food quality in most products does tend to be far better here, but do not paint it as a utopia.  There is junk in food all around the world.

I just think that the world is here to be lived in. I do go out of my way to make the healthiest (all around healthiest that is) food and lifestyle choices for my family. And chocolate milk, even every day, is not the end of the world.  It is not going to make him obese, it is not going to make him refuse to eat vegetables ever again, it is not a gateway drug.  I have (very fond) recollections of coming home after school and my sister and I taking turns squirting the Hershey's chocolate syrup into each others mouths straight from the bottle.  We doused it on our ice cream, we put it in milk, in water, ate it by the spoonful. For YEARS.  We are both fully grown, healthy, mature, intelligent mothers with good teeth and reasonable BMIs, who know what healthy eating is all about and know how to create a balanced nutritional diet for our familes  It did not harm us in any way 

[deb]

True - should have been specific about my own purchases specifically in Stüttgart, Salzburg, London, and Banbury. And I wasn't commenting on the sugar or preservative content, just on the artificial colors.

We really have no way to know if the foods we consumed in our childhoods are or aren't contributing to health issues now. A lot of people would consider me "healthy" even with my auto-immune thyroid and my chronic hip pain and ADD, and I won't live long enough for anyone to definitely pin the causes for them on diet or injury or environmental cause or any particular thing. Heck, my mother was told to KEEP smoking while PG with my brother and me so she didn't gain more than 10 pounds in her PG, who knows what effect that might have had on my prenatal development and how or whether it's manifesting now, my brother and I drank pretty much unlimited quantities of soda as kids, and most people considered me "healthy" even before I had kids and changed the way I ate. And IMO there's junk in food around the world because the West spread its diet around the world.

Anyway, I didn't stop in here to get things all contentious, just to suggest that there are other sources of the same nutrition in an artificial chocolate milk only without the milk or the chocolate powder/syrup. I'll admit to being jealous of people who can feed their kids whatever without having them bounce off the walls uncontrollably or become weepy combative children or break out in itchy skin, and I know that we're in the minority HAVING to be a LOT pickier about what we put into our bodies and on our skins than most people, but not all of us can lean on "but it didn't hurt me as a kid" argument (especially when so many of these foods, including Hershey's syrup and Nesquik, were formulated quite differently 30 years ago and are formulated differently for different markets around the world depending on regulations and what processors like Nestle and Hershey's can get away with there) when it comes to our own kids. And frankly, I don't know that I *can* truly say that "it didn't hurt me." I'll never know.

*bowing out now*

[We Three]

Well said Deb.   

 I think it's important to note that PP asked for "Thoughts on chocolate milk"...so yes, share your thoughts...but I feel compelled to remind everyone that when a Mom states her reasons for *not* offering a particular food item to her children, it is fine to ask why, but please be respectful.   

[Mom to M&M]

For a more natural alternative what about this syrup? Haven't tried it myself but a friend of mine uses it. http://www.amazon.com/Laska-Organic-Chocolate-22-Ounce-Bottles/dp/B001E5E0Z6

Now I am craving a hot fudge sundae!

[Mashi]

Sorry, I didn't mean anything disrespectfully...it is just my thoughts. I know that everyone has their own choices, I am just giving my reasons for choosing the opposite that is all

[~Sara~]

I think it's important to note that PP asked for "Thoughts on chocolate milk"...so yes, share your thoughts...but I feel compelled to remind everyone that when a Mom states her reasons for *not* offering a particular food item to her children, it is fine to ask why, but please be respectful.

Yes, I did openly ask for opinions on this, and I love how much everyone has chimed in.  I enjoy hearing people's viewpoints on this.  We're not a one-size-fits-all group, and each of us and our children have varying nutritional needs and situations that feed into those opinions.  All I know is what I know, which is why I fielded you all for those opinions.   Thank you!

We're going to give the chocolate milk another shot today (a teensy bit more powder in it since I don't think I put enough in the first time, in my erring on the side of caution).  But, DH and I are starting to consider a calcium supplement.  Will have to do research on that!

[nona]

sara - ask your ped about the calcium. for us, it is prob unnecessary. I can't remember why i even started giving it to do DS -oh, i think we was anti-cheese for awhile.  i wouldn't' stress over it. My brother was the pickiest eater that ever existed - and he eats almost anything now as an adult! My DH was also pretty picky too. Some people do not like milk. My DH and MIL will only drink it poured over ice. Will he eat a bowl of oatmeal or cereal w/ milk? 

mashi- liked your post. 

i think the whole choc milk "debate" is kinda funny bc i think it is pretty harmless and warm/fuzzy kinda food to me! I think the world would be a sad place without chocolate milk!  and I am sorry for those who dont get to splurge every once in a while