Flavoured milk off the menu in schools

The Los Angeles Unified School District is taking a stand against child obesity, becoming the nation's largest school system to stop serving sugar-laden flavoured milk. The school board voted to eliminate chocolate and strawberry milk from schools from July 1. LAUSD joins a growing number of school districts nationwide, including in the District of Columbia, Boulder Valley, Colorado, and Berkeley, California, that serve only plain milk because of the added sugar contained in flavoured versions. The proposal by Superintendent John Deasy came after popular British TV chef Jamie Oliver criticised the district for serving flavoured milk, saying it contained the sugar equivalent of a chocolate bar. In one stunt on his ABC show Food Revolution, he filled a school bus with sand to represent the added sugar students consume in a year through flavoured milk. Some board members were rankled by the perception the district was caving in to Oliver, who unsuccessfully lobbied the district to be allowed to film in local schools. "I really don't understand why we're letting a TV chef dictate our policy," said board member Tamar Galatzan. From / Gulf News