Common Sense Prevails in Connecticut School Milk Debate
July 2, 2014
The latest skirmish in the battle over chocolate milk in schools ended June 12 when Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy (left, drinking milk) vetoed legislation that would have effectively banned chocolate milk from state schools. The bill, passed on the final day of the legislature’s 2014 session, would have prohibited the sale of chocolate milk by setting a tight limit on the sodium allowed in drinks offered in Connecticut schools.
“I love chocolate milk, I love chocolate shakes, I like chocolate,” said Malloy. “I’m also a big milk person so looking at this … this was the right decision to make.”
“It’s encouraging to see reason and common sense returning to the debate over chocolate milk in schools,” NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern said in a statement.
“Schools that remove chocolate milk from the cafeteria are simply throwing the nutritional baby out with the bathwater. They deprive kids of calcium, protein and other needed nutrients while they increase waste and boost costs. Governor Malloy is to be congratulated for thinking this through, and not opting for the quick, easy but wrong solution.” NMPF had urged Malloy to veto the bill.