Ecobreves – CHILE: Call to Cut Calories in Flavored Milks

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SANTIAGO, Oct 20 2007 (IPS) - The Chilean consumer group ODECU is urging companies that make flavored milks to reduce the calories of those products, and pushing for a law requiring labeling foods with the colors of a traffic light. ODECU analyzed the calories of 33 200-milligram samples of milk — consumed primarily by schoolchildren — and found that only three were “acceptable”, with up to 86 calories. The containers say 66 calories, but most had 139 to 196 calories.

“The industry complies with the weak law, but should go beyond that because it has a social responsibility. It shouldn't promote its products as healthy,” ODECU president Stefan Larenas told Tierramérica.