Plan to remove chocolate-flavored milk from L.A. schools wins praise from Jamie Oliver

TV chef Jamie Oliver applauded L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy's announcement that, starting next fall, LAUSD will no longer offer chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk.

Deasy made the proposal during an appearance with Oliver on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Tuesday night.

Deasy's announcement was met with applause from the studio audience. Oliver said that flavored milks have more sugar than soda and that removing them would make school lunches healthier.

The policy change is part of a carefully negotiated happy ending between the Los Angeles Unified School District and Oliver. The chef has made his confrontations with the school system a main theme of the current season of his reality TV show, "Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution." Both Oliver’s and Kimmel’s shows air on ABC.

L.A. Unified had already been considering doing away with flavored milk. District officials, in fact, had asked suppliers if they could formulate a flavored milk with no added sugar, said a district source. If they succeed, flavored milk could reappear.

District officials have an unhappy recent history with reality TV shows. The district paid for an estimated $100,000 in repairs after the show "School Pride" spruced up Hollenbeck Middle School. The reality shows haven't fared that well with L.A. Unified either -- both "School Pride" and Oliver's series had unenviable ratings.

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-- Howard Blume

Comments

[dano]

i was just reading in a science magazine how chocolate milk has improved benefits compared to regular milk when consumed before working out . . . but that wouldn' t really matter to most California public school students because Physical education is not mandatory . . . one might have thought the something Arnold would have condoned for our schools, that he somewhat understands - the importance of being physical . . . just because one is a chef does not mean one is a nutritionist and versed in physiology . . . the added sugar isn't the problem; the inactivity is . . .

[Coriolana]

And we care why?

[cj]

this is ridiculous. it is ever more apparent that the next generation to run this country will be weak minded, entitled fatties. chocolate milk does not cause obesity. lazy parents who would rather play on their facebook then take thier children to the park or make them do a sport is the cause of this. parents are so concerned over their kids being their buddies that they have forgotten that it is a parents job to raise kids...not befriend them. i drank chocolate milk as a child every time i had a school lunch and i have never had a weight problem. having ONE chocolate milk does not a fat child make. the problem is that mommy and daddy have two gallons of it at home, plus 10 pallets of soda, and dinner most nights is KFC. stop blaming everyone else for your own shortfalls parents.

[Eric M.]

All this means is less kids drinking milk. When I was a child, I could barely choke down non-flavored milk. If chocolate milk were not available, I would not drink milk. I'm sure the benefits outweigh the harm.

[Gregg]

This is the burning issue facing the LA School District? Makes all the happier I live in Ventura County.

[DAN]

who does this mutt think he is........go back and bother the brits.

[sherwood]

this by means is not for health reasons although it sounds nice, its to save money. bottom line, money.

[T]

Really, chocolate milk removed? C'mon we all drank it as kids, everything is a problem now, so sad...

[Seeder]

When I was a kid, my school only had white milk.

I remember thinking even then as a kid that it would not be a good idea to have junk available at school. Shortly after I finished high school, schools became rife with the crassest, crummiest snack foods and junk imaginable. That boggled my mind until it reached the point where Pizza Hut was providing meals.

What was the madness of the 80's and 90's? Sure took long enough to clean up preposterous food choices in schools.

[C Donahoe]

An article regarding the benefits of chocolate milk can be found here: http://www.chocolatemilk.com/after-workout/

However, it specifically says "Many magazines such as Runner’s World and Fitness have done articles employing the benefits of chocolate milk after exercise. Based on studies done by Dr. Joel Stager that conducted research on bicyclists who drank Gatorade and chocolate milk after exhausting their muscles, shows that those who drank chocolate milk were able to recover quickly and last just as long while bicycling to those who had Gatorade."

At the schools, kids would be drinking their milk with lunch, not after exercise, so all those carbs wouldn't be burned off but would instead simply be turned to fat.

[Serra's sins]

dano

My question is, is chocolate-flavored milk the same as real chocolate milk. If the chocolate-flavored milk is achieved by just adding a flavoring agent, then there is no benefit from it. Also, real chocolate milk is more beneficial as a post workout aid, than pre.

[sonic runner]

i agree with dano...physical education should be something to take into account...and sadly to say it all starts at home. parents expect for schools to resolve problem when the parents are mainly responsible for it.

i love chocolate milk and this was one way to have LAUSD students drink it.

[Jazz]

Has anyone seen what they serve for lunch in the LAUSD?

Chocolate milk is the most healthy thing on the tray. Funny how they are so concerned about chocolate milk but they serve cookies and have candy drives. What about all of the sodium from the prepackaged food that they serve?

The problem isn't the school meals, after all school lunches account for five meals out of the week. The problem is what they eat at home.

I doubt that eliminating chocolate milk is going to solve the health problems of school children when 60 to 80% of their diet consist of McDonalds, Burger King, Jack-in-the-Box, Taco Bell, Del Taco and 7-11 hot dogs.

Plus the school system needs to make physical education madatory. If you eat fattening foods and sit in front of the TV, game console or computer what do you expect?

[Jason]

Now you'll have children that normally don't drink milk but would drink chocolate milk, not drinking either. There is no comparison on soda vs chocolate milk; soda has no nutritional value. This is just misguided.

[David]

even though most nutritionists agree that chocolate milk is actually better for you then regular milk... Another reason why I would never send my children to public schools in L.A.

[Steven M.]

Maybe they should just serve baloney sandwiches and water, a'la Sheriff Joe's Tent city?

Schools have ceased becoming educational facilitites and have become the new pre-prison facilities for those under 18.

[A. Hall]

I applaud Jamie Oliver for his attempt to educate the educators, not an easy job.
The food available to kids in LAUSD schools is scary stuff, just fill them up could be their motto. Removing flavored milk is a minor start.

[James]

Why is this Jamie Oliver guy doing ? Why doesnt he just mess the UK school system instead. Looks like he is taking all the fun in having lunch for the kids for his own benefit. Btw, he should look himself on the mirror.. he's not exactly fit himself.

[Whiffed]

The real problem is too many choices in life. Flavored milk? Type of steak? Which sauce on your pasta? What type of cheese on your pasta? Choice of life partners? Etc. etc. etc. Let's just standardize everything the way little Jamie wants things, and then life will be much simpler. After all, he thinks he is some kind of food god.

[1944victoriam]

Healthy eating starts in the home. We have strictly limited my Grandson's intake of sugar and junk food since he was born. He has never tasted soda and drinks milk, water and some juice. He always asks if he can have a sweet or dessert because he just knows. He likes hummus and tofu and yogurt and edamame because he was given it from the get go. He eats broccoli and spinach. You have to teach children when they are young to eat properly. My little Niece and Nephew came to my house Easter and ate candy all day long from the Easter baskets. Their Mother never said a thing. At brunch they ate a little food but went right back to devouring their candy. It was sickening. Cavities, obesity and diabetes could very well be part of their future.

[Ginger C]

Why don't they ban the street vendors from congregating outside of the schools selling corn chips, candy, soda, and other junk food. I see several vendors every day standing outside of the school entrances, some less than 40 yds. from the front door, and the kids are buying.

Also, they should vett the contracts with suppliers to the schools. When I was in high school (late 70's), we fought our administration to get healthier snacks, and were told they weren't available. Funny, the community college had vending machines with fruit, which is what we wanted. Turns out, the vendor was the brother-in-law of one of our administrators. We cancelled the contract, opened up the bidding, and miraculously the fruit vending machines were obtained.

Honestly, how many of these kids can identify the most common of vegetables?

[FR415]

Like Jamie Oliver is so fit? Let the poor kids drink chocolate milk. I remember regular milk in school being too warm to drink and most kids wouldn't drink it. Blech. At least room temp chocolate milk is tasty.

[Wally Swanker]

I love the FOOD channel and similar channel. I've watched many food shows and yet have never of this idiot Jamie Oliver.

[glenn grab]

Jamie Oliver, the little punk isn't even a citizen, he's from England....tell him to go back home and fix things there!!

[malumot]

while most of you are correct - choc milk is not the silver bullet to childhood obesity...what scares me even more is the way the audience responded.

Most TV show audiences are sheep - but this one was over the top. Such a reaction about chocolate milk?