A team of food scientists from DMI helped McDonald’s USA update its chocolate milk with a reduced-sugar, low-fat formula that will roll out nationwide in January. DMI and McDonald’s have had a partnership since 2009.
The new formula contains 25% less sugar than McDonald’s current chocolate milk, and it is also low fat instead of fat-free. DMI said it provided on-site support from its food scientists and other resources to work closely with the McDonald’s team to create the product.
The McDonald’s chocolate milk was previously included as an option in its Happy Meals for kids, but announced in February 2018 that it would be pulled in an effort to reduce the calorie count of Happy Meals. It’s unclear whether this formula change will reinstate the chocolate milk for kids.
Cheeseburgers were also removed from Happy Meals at the time, and McDonald’s said it was aiming to keep them under 600 calories with less than 650mg of sodium.
Marilyn Hershey, chair of DMI, said, “Chocolate milk has been a longtime customer favorite at McDonald’s and US dairy farmers are glad to see the chain roll out a great-tasting chocolate milk that has even more nutritional benefits than previously.
“This is a great example of a foodservice leader listening and responding to customer demand. It also benefits dairy farmers because McDonald’s will offer an improved milk product to millions of customers, which could lead to similar changes at other restaurants.”