Chocolate Milk

Chocolate milk is a sweetened chocolate-flavored milk. It can be made by mixing chocolate syrup (or chocolate powder) with milk (from cows, goats, soy, rice, etc.). It can be purchased pre-mixed with milk or made at home by blending milk with cocoa powder and a sweetener (such as sugar or a sugar substitute), melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, or a pre-made powdered chocolate milk mix. Other ingredients, such as starch, salt, carrageenan, vanilla, or artificial flavoring are sometimes added. To add nutritional value to the product, sometimes some minerals like zinc oxide or iron are added.

The carrageenan is used at very low concentrations to form an imperceptible weak gel that prevents the large, dense particles of chocolate from sedimentation. Chocolate milk should be refrigerated like unflavored milk, with the exception of some ultra high temperature (UHT) pasteurized drinks, which can be stored at room temperature. Chocolate milk was first created in Jamaica by Irish physician Hans Sloane during the 1700s, and is generally served cold. The nutritional qualities of chocolate milk are the subject of debate: while some studies criticize the high sugar content of chocolate milk, other studies suggest that chocolate milk is nutritionally superior to white milk.

Chocolate milk was served at Jack in the Box, but appears to have been discontinued.