Got Milk (with aspartame)?

When was the last time that you remember drinking a cool glass of milk and thinking how much better it would be if it had a nice sweet shot of aspartame? The Food and Drug Administration recently announced a petition form the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) that would allow them to add artificial sweeteners to dairy products.

According to the petition “IDFA and NMPF state that the proposed amendments would promote more healthful eating practices and reduce childhood obesity by providing for lower-calorie flavored milk products. They state that lower-calorie flavored milk would particularly benefit school children who, according to IDFA and NMPF, are more inclined to drink flavored milk than unflavored milk at school. As further support for the petition, IDFA and NMPF state that the proposed amendments would assist in meeting several initiatives aimed at improving the nutrition and health profile of food served in the nation’s schools. Those initiatives include state-level programs designed to limit the quantity of sugar served to children during the school day.”

 If this petition passes, milk manufacturers could use non nutritive sweeteners in milk without indicating the artificial sweeteners have been added in the packaging. While this may seem ridiculous to some of you, it is already allowed with ice cream.

So what do you think? Should milk manufacturers be able to add “safe and suitable” sweeteners to their products without having to indicate it on the label? Do you want your kids drinking milk with aspartame if it makes them more likely to drink milk instead of soda? Leave your comments below.

The FDA has requested responses to this petition. You can let the FDA know what you think here.