What the heck is a ‘milk beverage’?
Humans started drinking animal milk 7,500 years ago. Aside from a little lactose intolerance here and there, it seems to have worked out pretty well.
So why are companies trying to change our milk?
Milkwise is a new “milk beverage’’ just released by Hood. The product has been rolled out to all retail grocery stores in New England the past two weeks. Parenthood star Monica Potter is one of the product’s representatives, and kicked off a tasting tour in Boston on Wednesday.
Milkwise is an alternative to traditional milk, but still contains more calcium, and less calories, sugar and fat.
“It is a new milk beverage designed for consumers who love milk, but are not getting what they desire from their beverage, though they do like the nurtitional elements of milk,’’ Lynn Bohan, spokesperson for MilkWise, said.
Bohan said consumer data collected by the campaign showed that
women were looking for a milk beverage in the dairy family that did not have all the fat and calories that go along with the milk they usually consume.
Though Milkwise does contain dairy, it’s called a “milk beverage’’ because it does not have the “standard of identity’’ that milk has. Each brand of milk beverage can have different nutrition facts, whereas milk, regardless of brand, will have the same nutirtional information, like eight grams of protein per cup, Stephanie Ferrari, MS, RD of New England Dairy & Food Council said.
“Cow’s milk is like the original protein drink,’’ she said.
But that doesn’t mean milk beverages are bad.
“Everyone is so individual with food needs and desires, but that’s the great thing about the dairy aisle. There’s an option for everyone. You just need to look at the nutrition labels,’’ she said.
For families like Potter’s looking to consume a reduced sugar and reduced calorie milk beverage, she said Milkwise is a great option, which is why she became a spokesperson on the tour.
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