Ann Cooper Takes on Dairy Council

Boulder Valley (CO) School District has removed chocolate milk from its cafeterias, citing the added sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup in the product, reports the local 7News TV newschannel. Boulder Valley’s nutrition services department is headed by former Berkeley Schools Dining Director Ann Cooper, who has been a vocal advocate for radical reform of school meals to include more fresh, nonprocessed, organic, locally sourced and from-scratch selections.

The removal of the milk is a high-profile response to a campaign by the National Dairy Council to promote the serving of flavored milk in schools as a way to get youngsters to drink more milk. The Dairy Council says all types of milk contain a number of essential nutrients for growing bodies, while the sugar content of popular flavored varieties is fairly trivial by comparison to the benefits.