Question:
Our school serves coffee-flavored milk. I'm concerned about the caffeine content and children getting too much caffeine.
Answer:
According to a large study just published in the January 2005 Journal of the American Dietetic Association, flavored dairy products, including coffee-flavored and chocolate-flavored milk, contribute, on average, no more than 2 mg of caffeine in the diets of 16- to 17-year-olds, compared to 14 to 52 mg from soft drinks. The caffeine content for 8 ounces of coffee-flavored milk varies, but generally provides no more than 35-40 mg, the amount in 2 ounces of coffee. And, chocolate milk provides less than 5 mg of caffeine per 8 ounces. Flavored milk, including coffee- and chocolate-flavored milk, packs the same amount of calcium and eight other essential nutrients as white milk. Research shows that flavored milk drinkers tend to drink more milk and get more calcium than children who don’t.
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