Celebrate with award-winning Utah chocolate milk

I usually ignore strange food celebrations — and there area dozens of them — such as National Peanut Butter Day or kumquat appreciation month. But I'm willing to make an exception this Thursday, which is National Chocolate Milk Day.

I'm breaking the rule, only because Utah is home to some of the best chocolate milk in the country. Recently, the lowfat chocolate milk produced at Winder Farms took first place at the Dairy Product Championship Contest, held as part of the World Dairy Expo in Madison Wisconsin. In addition, Winder's chocolate milk recovery drink earned a second place in the competition.

Of course, chocolate milk is just a "sometimes" treat — especially for children. While it has the same essential vitamins and minerals as regular milk, it also can contains more than twice the amount of sugar as regular milk — 26 grams vs. 12 grams. Some experts say chocolate milk is a good choice for kids who won't drink regular milk. But others say there is a tendency to overconsume this sweet drink, contributing to weight gain.

Chocolate milk does contains protein and carbs, making it a good recovery drink after rigorous exercise. But that's only good for active youths — most children don't participate in enough rigorous exercise to need it as a "recovery" drink.

So drink up —- with moderation.