Chocolate Milk is a sweetened, cocoa-flavored milk drink. It can be purchased pre-mixed or made at home with either cocoa powder and a sweetener (such as sugar), or with melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, or chocolate milk mix. Other ingredients, such as starch, salt, carrageenan, vanilla, or artificial flavoring, may be added. Chocolate milk should be refrigerated like plain milk.

A variant of chocolate milk are candy-bar themed pre-mixed drinks, which claim to mimic the flavors of popular candy bars such as Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, or Snickers. Other variants include a lactose-free version may also be made using lactose-free milk and flavorings, organic

chocolate milk (made with organic milk, organic cocoa, and organic cane syrup), and soy chocolate "milk".

Health aspects

Nutritionists have criticized chocolate milk for its high sugar content. However, a study published in 2006 indicated that chocolate milk aids in recovery when taken after intense athletic workouts. The study authors believe this to be due to its ratio of carbohydrates to protein, among other nutritional properties. The study was small in scale and partially funded by the dairy industry, but the results may warrant further study.

Chocolate supplies oxalic acid, which reacts with the calcium in the milk producing calcium oxalate, thus preventing the calcium from being absorbed in the intestine. However, it is present in small enough amounts that the effect on calcium absorption is negligible.

Marketing
While chocolate milk should be bought and stored cold, chocolate milk can be heated to produce a beverage similar to hot chocolate. Some brands of pre-mixed chocolate milk display labels with messages such as "Try Me HOT!" to encourage consumers to use the product as both a cold and a hot milk drink.

Culture
In the U.S., most school lunch programs provide both white and pre-mixed chocolate milk as beverage choices, sometimes in plastic bags.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin used chocolate milk as a metaphor for racial integration after his Chocolate City speech.

In a recent study done in schoolboards across Canada, chocolate milk was the most popular drink among children between the ages of five and nine.