page_title: Chocolate milk
section_title: Scientific studies and research
hierarchical_section_title: Chocolate milk / Scientific studies and research
caption_attribution_description: Chocolate milk for students at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia for lunch service, the milk is available through the National School Lunch Program, on Wednesday, October 19, 2011. The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service operating in public, nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols.
context_page_description: Chocolate milk is a sweetened chocolate-flavored milk. It can be made by mixing chocolate syrup with milk. It can be purchased pre-mixed with milk or made at home by blending milk with cocoa powder and a sweetener, melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, or a pre-made powdered chocolate milk mix. Other ingredients, such as starch, salt, carrageenan, vanilla, or artificial flavoring are sometimes added.
  To add nutritional value to the product, sometimes some minerals like zinc oxide or iron are added.
  The carrageenan is used at very low concentrations to form an imperceptible weak gel that prevents the large, dense particles of chocolate from sedimentation. Chocolate milk should be refrigerated like unflavored milk, with the exception of some ultra high temperature pasteurized drinks, which can be stored at room temperature. Chocolate milk was first created in Jamaica by Irish physician Hans Sloane during the late 1700s, and is generally served cold. The nutritional qualities of chocolate milk are the subject of debate: while some studies criticize the high sugar content of chocolate milk, other studies suggest that chocolate milk is nutritionally superior to white milk.
context_section_description: Some nutritionists have criticized chocolate milk for its high sugar content and its relationship to childhood obesity. In New York City, school food officials report that nearly 60 percent of the 100 million cartons served each year contain fat-free chocolate milk. Because chocolate milk can contain twice as much sugar as plain low-fat milk from added sugars, some school districts have stopped serving the product altogether, including some areas in California and Washington, D.C.
caption: Cartons of chocolate milk
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