ENRICHED MILK, also known as formula or progress milk, marketed to promote the healthy growth of young children is unnecessary, concludes DECO, Portugal’s leading consumer protection organisation.
In the current issue of Test Saúde, the organisation’s health publication, the conclusions from DECO’s examination of milk recommended for one to three-year-olds and three years and older were published.
Continente, Nestlé, Parmalat, President and Mimosa were tested for one to three-year-olds and Mimosa, Continente and Nestlé were compared with standard semi-skimmed cow’s milk for three years and older.
“Companies are using the argument that these milk drinks are enriched with vitamins and minerals. However, if a child has a balanced diet, these products are unnecessary,” says the report.
“To say that enriched milk is essential for growth, a claim made on the packaging of many of these products, constitutes a pure marketing campaign which, if followed by parents, can be expensive,” DECO concludes.
DECO specialists concluded that these follow-on milks are, in some cases, cow’s milk with added sugar, flavouring and ingredients or milk enriched with vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.
The majority of samples marketed for children of up to three-years-old were revealed to contain more calories than standard semi-skimmed milk: “These products contain added sugar,” reports the magazine.
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