Milk on time: why pay more for calcium-enriched milk?

Many consumers are tempted to pay about 33% more for "enriched" milk, believing that the double calcium concentration will do their body good, prevent calcium from escaping and help strengthen bones.

But according to the professionals, this has no effect.

So why do we still pay more?

First article in the series

Liat Ron

02/08/2022

Tuesday, 02 August 2022, 12:14 Updated: 12:27

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Fortified milk versus regular milk.

Is it worth the price difference? (Photo: Daniel Malachovski)

How many times have you had the opportunity to go to the milk shelf in the supermarket, look for the monitored milk with which you color your morning coffee - and find that the shelf is empty?

Presumably quite a few.

In such emergencies, our eyes wander towards the plastic bottles or milk cartons that are not under supervision, and we have no choice but to put one of them in the basket and pay an exorbitant price for it at the checkout.

But there are those who choose the more expensive milk, such as the enriched milk, in the full belief that it will give their body added value and make a significant contribution to their health.

In practice, it turns out that this is a marginal addition of calcium, which significantly increases the price, but does not contribute much, if at all, to health.

From an examination conducted by

, it appears that the calcium-enriched milk of "Yetbata" produced by the Strauss company, is not only the most popular in the category, but occupies a market share of 18% of all milk sales in Israel.

The price of milk fortified with calcium is NIS 7.90, 33% more expensive than the regulated milk (which will soon rise to NIS 6.23).

Tara and Tnuva's fortified milk is also sold at a price of NIS 7.90.

Prof. Olga Raz: "I don't know such a miraculous formula. Fortified milk cannot be the answer to osteoporosis" (Photo: PR)

It turns out that we pay an additional 33% in the price for the calcium addition.

In supervised milk, the calcium value is 100 mg calcium per 100 grams of drink and in fortified milk a double value: 200 mg calcium per 100 grams of drink.

The question is, does the addition of 100 mg of calcium justify the huge price difference in terms of health? Do all consumers healthily need calcium addition in this way - and is it possible that consuming other foods or supplements, in another way - would be more effective and cost-effective?

, says that adding calcium is important, and as evidence - mineral water also has a few tens of mg of calcium and even salted water has calcium added.

"If a person drinks once or twice a day a small amount of coffee-enriched milk," explains Prof. Raz, "there is no health significance to the calcium supplement, because it cannot fulfill the daily need, unless one drinks liters of milk, and this usually does not happen."

"The amount in fortified milk cannot help health, so they have to take supplements and eat other dairy products, tahini, sardines and eggs."

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Who does not know the situation?

You look for the regular milk, you can't find it - and in the end you choose the "more expensive" ones (Photo: ShutterStock)

"Calcium ran away, disappeared, dissipated"

In 2003, when the product hit the shelves, Tnuva came out with a commercial in which a clerk is seen answering the phone, "The human body is fine", "Is calcium found?"

asks the man on the other side.

"No" the clerk replies - "Calcium ran away, it's gone, it dissipated. You don't know calcium" and right after that the explanation appears that the formula of the calcium in the milk helps it stay in the body.

But it turns out that even this assumption is more legend than fact.

"I don't believe in miracles," says Prof. Raz, "and I don't know such a miraculous formula. Calcium escape is a reaction of the aging skeleton and in order to build the bone you need to take new drugs that know how to help the process. Fortified milk cannot be the answer to osteoporosis."

And we will add: but this is definitely a great way to extract money from innocent consumers who are sure that they are buying a drink that can help their health, when they dilute it in their daily coffee.

• Of money

• consumption

Tags

• milk

• yield

• her benefit

• Strauss

• Olga Raz