CUTTING KIDS TO THE ‘QUIK’
DOE weighs ban on chocolate milk
Holy cow! The city Department of Education wants to ban chocolate milk from public schools, The Post has learned.
Citing health concerns, including sugar content, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza and his underlings are pushing for an unflavoredmilk-only policy, DOE sources said.
“The thinking is that these kids are already getting too much sugar, why are they getting it in their milk?’’ one DOE source said, adding that higher-ups “are discussing what to do and how to do it.’’
Other school districts, from San Francisco to Washington, DC, have banned flavored milk, and concern over dairy has come up before in New York City, where students’ milk options were limited to lowfat and nonfat in 2006.
But the city has resisted putting the kibosh on the chocolate variety — at least until now.
The possible move is already dividing parents and kids.
“It would be awful to take away people’s chocolate milk,” said Caterina Ditommasa, a 10-year-old at PS 58 in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
Her mother, Joanna, argued that removing chocolate milk won’t solve schools’ dietary problems.
“The schools serve other sugary drinks that are no better — juices and sodas,” she said.
“The real problem is that New York City lunches are unhealthy in general, all prepackaged and full of preservatives.”
Caterina’s dad, Luke, was more open to a chocolate-milk ban.
“Not to be a health nazi,” he said, “but it’s not the worst idea.’’
Upstate dairy farmers got wind that something was ahoof in the city and are having a cow about it.
They say taking away chocolate milk will lower kids’ milk intake, which would hurt their health, not to mention farmers’ bottom lines.
A group of dairy farmers enlisted the help of their local Congress members, who fired off a letter to Mayor de Blasio last week.
“Over two-thirds of milk served in school is flavored, which represents an essential way that kids get the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development,’’ the letter said.
One of the politicians, Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-Utica), told The Post: “This is a very large school system. This is a time when dairy farmers are already struggling and facing a lot of uncertainty.”
The DOE stressed that a final decision has not been made.
“Our priority is the health and well-being of our students, and every day, we offer a variety of healthy, delicious, and free meal options that exceed USDA standards,” it said in a statement.
“We look forward to discussing our menu with these members of Congress.”
The San Francisco Unified School District, which Carranza previously led, banned flavored milk shortly after he left in 2016.
While Los Angeles eliminated chocolate milk in 2011, it brought it back in 2017 after finding kids were rejecting milk altogether.
According to the city Health Department, 8 ounces of local public schools’ chocolate skim milk has 120 calories and 20 grams of sugar, 8 grams of which are added sugar.
The same amount of skim white milk has 90 calories and 12 grams of sugar, none added.