Flavored milk is a sweetened dairy drink made with milk, sugar, flavorings, and sometimes food colorings. It may be sold as a pasteurized, refrigerated product; or as an ultra-high-temperature treated product not requiring refrigeration. It may also be made in restaurants or homes by mixing flavorings into milk. In New England, milk blended with flavored syrups such as chocolate or strawberry in a milkshake machine, is commonly called a "milkshake"; in other parts of the country, a milkshake always includes ice cream or thickeners.
Types
Flavored milk, either cow, soy, almond, or camel, contains sugar, colorings, and flavorings added to make it more appetizing, especially to children can be sold as a powder to be added to plain milk, or bought pre-mixed alongside other milk products. Flavoring can be included in a straw, and some flavored milk products are designed as dietary supplements by including additional vitamins or minerals. Bottled spiced milk is a popular beverage in the Indian subcontinent. Other companies provide flavored beverages in the United Kingdom, which sells packaged beverages to the mobile vendor market. Australia has the highest consumption rate of flavored milk in the world, standing at 9.5 liters per capita in 2004. Over the years, Kemps, a Midwestern milk company, has put various flavors of milk on the market, including their "Monkey Business" milk which is banana flavored. Contrary to popular belief, the milk does not contain any real bananas in it. Flavored milk is particularly popular in the Australian states of South Australia and Western Australia. A 2013 Sunday Times article reported Western Australia was the "flavoured milk capital of Australia", with a A$220-million industry, average consumption of per person, and more than 40 varieties of iced coffee alone available. Similarly, a 2006 Adelaide Advertiser reported South Australia consumed of flavored milk each year, with 82% of market share held by a single brand, Farmers Union. According to Coca-Cola Amatil, one of the largest bottlers in the Asia-Pacific region, South Australia is the only place where sales of flavored milk outstrip those of cola.
Controversy and criticism
, host of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, brought attention in the United States to public schools that serve flavored milk in the school cafeterias. Flavored milk advocates claim that many children will avoid the nutrition found in milk unless it has been flavored, with the benefits of milk outweighing a few teaspoons of sugar. Opponents say that with rising levels of obesity and heart disease, flavored milk should be removed from schools and children should be taught to drink plain milk. A 2018 analysis of more than 90 popular chilled flavoured dairy milks revealed that a carton of flavoured milk can contain as much sugar as a can of soft drink, with many of the bestselling brands containing more than a day’s worth of added sugar in a single serving.
