Milking it
By SUSAN ASCHOFF
Published July 6, 2005
"Finish your milk," Mother said.
Good health, she believed, was as straightforward as a glass of cold, pasteurized, whole milk. Mid century families drank it at every meal. The milkman cometh.
But soon milk's perfection would be challenged. Taste buds were tempted by Coca-Cola and Kool-Aid, Sanka and Gatorade. Nutrition proved more complicated than what to pour on cereal. There are fat grams and cholesterol, vitamins and minerals to think about.
In recent weeks, researchers have announced that dairy foods may help women slim down and make children obese. How to swallow that?
Today milk is fruit-flavored, mixed with juice, sugar-spiked, super-fortified, diet shake'd and vended in 16-ounce bottles, like soda.
Long a part of the American vernacular, milk is no longer just mother's.
- SUSAN ASCHOFF, Times staff writer
June is named National Milk Month. "Keep Youthful - Drink Milk," urge the ads.
Milk becomes the victor's drink at the Indianapolis 500, thanks to the milk companies that sponsored the race at the time.
Borden Milk, hounded by consumers asking "Where's Elsie?" the cartoon cow, pictured on the carton, put a real Jersey named You'll Do Lobelia on display at the New York World's Fair.
National School Lunch Act signed by President Harry Truman.
Nestle Quik, the first powdered chocolate milk mix, hits grocers' shelves.
Dairy price supports created to ensure adequate supply.
Plastic milk containers introduced commercially.
Late 1960sThe Cowsills, a wholesome and energetic singing family, star in ads for Mixed-Up Milk, in one of milk's earliest attempts to be hip.
U.S. Department of Agriculture begins Special Milk Program in schools and child care centers. Kindergarteners are reminded to bring their milk money. Nearly 3-billion half-pints are served.
Quik Bunny, a cartoon rabbit wearing a Q, is born. Quik adds a strawberry flavor in the 1970s. Today, retitled Nesquik is sold in more than 100 countries.
Dairy Production Stabilization Act of 1983 authorizes national promotion of dairy products, funded by milk producers. The goal? To increase consumption and reduce milk surpluses.
A study in China concludes that bone thinning, or osteoporosis, occurs in countries where calcium intake is highest. Average American consumes 1,143 mg calcium per day, most of it in dairy products. Average in China is 544 mg. There is hardly any osteoporosis in China.
Low-fat and skim milk sales exceed whole milk sales for first time.
First "Got Milk?" ads, for California Milk Processor Board, appear.
Naomi Campbell is first celebrity to wear a milk mustache as "Got Milk?" goes national, introducing a campaign that will feature almost 200 celebrities, some of them captured by celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz, and will become one of the most popular advertising campaigns ever.
Mayfield Dairy Farms Inc. introduces 16-ounce plastic bottle called the "Chug."
Sports heroes and pop stars ask, "Where's Your Mustache?" Vanessa Williams says calcium in milk helps prevent osteoporosis. Others ask, "Got Milk?" Several consumer groups assail the campaigns, saying there is no research proving cow's milk is assimilated by human bones.
Petition filed with Federal Trade Commission alleges that "Got Milk?" ads with Mark McGwire and Kristi Yamaguchi lack scientific basis for suggesting milk consumption improves sports performance. A study published in the journal Pediatrics says young women's bone density is affected by amount of physical activity and that increased calcium in diet may not make a difference.
Britney Spears becomes spokeswoman for Pepsi. It is unclear if she has ditched milk, which she previously touted in ads aimed at teenagers. Web reports say Spears actually requests Coca-Cola in her tour dressing rooms.
About 35 percent of high schoolers have stopped drinking milk. National Dairy Council and the American School Food Service Association find consumption increases by a third if milk is served in bottles with twist-off caps rather than hard-to-open cartons.
Schoolchildren consume 5.3-billion half-pints of milk.
PETA files lawsuit against California Milk Advisory Board over its "Happy Cows" advertisements. In reality, PETA says, cows' lives are not happy.
National Dairy Council will spend $200-million over next two years to promote milk and yogurt as aid to weight loss based on studies suggesting calcium or other elements in dairy foods cause body to make or store less fat. Farmer-funded Dairy Management Inc. launches "3-a-Day for stronger bones" campaign to boost 1.5 servings of dairy consumed by average American.
Dairy farmers in New Hampshire, like their counterparts in other states, help schools purchase vending machines to sell single-serving bottles of flavored milk.
Dr. Phil wears a milk mustache.
Wendy's and McDonald's replace milk cartons with bottles, and Wendy's reports that weekly milk sales climb from 65,000 units nationwide to more than 1-million.
Healthy Cow arrives at some Pinellas and Polk county high schools, a vanilla-, chocolate- or strawberry-flavored milk with less sugar and fat and more vitamins.
New USDA Food Pyramid unveiled. Dairy recommendations unchanged, calling for three servings daily of milk, cheese or yogurt, but putting new emphasis on low-fat or fat-free versions.
Study finds that children who drink more than three servings of milk a day - including low-fat or fat-free - are prone to obesity, undermining an industry claim that milk aids weight loss. In surveying more than 12,000 children, researchers found that the more milk they drank, the more weight they gained.
SOURCES: National Dairy Council; Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; www.compleatmother.com/milk.htm Dairy Foods Magazine; Dairy Management Inc.; U.S. Department of Agriculture; New York Times; Times wires.