# How do we get chocolate milk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478 "2017-06-20T20:34:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![greenmario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/97f17d/32.png) [@greenmario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenmario)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/1 "2017-06-20T20:34:34Z")
So [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/06/15/seven-percent-of-americans-think-chocolate-milk-comes-from-brown-cows-and-thats-not-even-the-scary-part/?utm_term=.c38525917e09) story made the rounds last week claiming that 7% of Americans think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Unbelievable right? I thought it was quite literally unbelievable. The obvious conclusion was that 70 out of 1000 Americans will troll an online survey if they feel like they can get away with it. However, this story made its way onto every news site from Breitbart to WaPo to CNN and maybe 1 in 150 comments questioned the validity of the survey. Mostly people just wanted to get off a political hipshot. Am I looking too deep into this? Has anyone on this board actually encountered a person who thinks this? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/2 "2017-06-20T20:36:13Z")
Some chocolate milk probably comes from brown cows. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/3 "2017-06-20T20:42:51Z")
But what about strawberry milk? I don’t recall ever seeing a pink cow. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/4 "2017-06-20T20:44:06Z")
Everyone knows you feed the cows [brown cows.](https://sep.yimg.com/ay/candy-crate/black-cow-2.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/5 "2017-06-20T20:49:15Z")
Everyone knows that chocolate milk comes from the udders of lactating cocoa trees. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/6 "2017-06-20T21:13:05Z")
Can’t see the article with the ad blocker but if I was asked to answer a poll about where chocolate milk came from and one of the choices was Brown Cows I’d pick that one. If they used a poll I’m surprised only 7% of the people answered that way. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/7 "2017-06-20T21:25:43Z")
I’m surprised that the number is that low, too. I mean, on something like a political poll, I’ll play it straight (though there are those who troll political polls, too), but a poll like this exists for the sole purpose of making a joke, so I might as well make a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/8 "2017-06-20T21:34:32Z")
Here’s a CNN link if WaPo is blocked for you: [http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/16/us/chocolate-milk-help-trnd/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/16/us/chocolate-milk-help-trnd/index.html) > [@](#): > > The online survey… And there I stopped reading. The CNN article says the “research” was put out by something called the Innovation Center for US Dairy. I went to their site ([http://www.usdairy.com/](http://www.usdairy.com/)), and I don’t find the report. I Googled “site:usdairy.com chocolate brown cow” and didn’t find anything. This organization does appear to generate some real research, but I’m guessing the report everyone is talking about now was the work of some of the less serious minds there. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/9 "2017-06-20T21:49:11Z")
I have now been to about 7 different sites that reference this supposed research, and I find no link to the actual survey or results. I find a Food and Wine [article](http://www.foodandwine.com/news/survey-finds-too-many-people-still-think-chocolate-milk-comes-brown-cows)from 6/1 that points to [Undeniably Dairy](https://dairygood.org/undeniably-dairy), which seems to be an arm of the Innovation Center for US Dairy. The Undeniably Dairy home page has a link to an infographic that makes the claim that 7% of us think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. That page provides no cite for the claim. It does, helpfully, point to an [article](http://www.today.com/food/does-chocolate-milk-comes-brown-cows-t112772)on [today.com](http://today.com). The [today.com](http://today.com) article in turn references the Food and Wine article that linked to the Undeniably Dairy page. It’s the circle of [del]liiiiiife![/del] bullshiiiiiit! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/10 "2017-06-20T23:02:03Z")
There’s an article on the [dairygood.org](http://dairygood.org) website about the study, and in the comments, some people asked the same question (Were people being serious? Where is the survey?) and [here](https://dairygood.org/content/2017/survey-some-americans-think-chocolate-milk-comes-from-brown-cows?ref=www.nationaldairycouncil.org) is the reply: > [@](#): > > Dairy Good > For the several comments asking about the survey. The full survey currently isn’t posted anywhere. The survey was conducted by Edelman Intelligence to kick off our Undeniably Dairy campaign on behalf of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. > > The purpose of the survey was to gauge some interesting and fun facts about consumers’ perceptions of dairy, not a scientific or academic study intended to be published, yet the USA Today Snapshot’s interest in the chocolate milk stats, and subsequent coverage of that, has brought on the attention. > > While the study wasn’t intended for public consumption, it is statistically valid. The study polled 1,000 American adults online between May 5 and May 9, 2017. Responses came from all 50 states, and the regional response breakdown was fairly even. > > Hope that helps! > Like · Reply · Jun 19, 2017 8:27am ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/11 "2017-06-20T23:20:19Z")
Company that wants to educate people on dairy (so people buy more dairy), releases survey saying people don’t know enough about dairy. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/12 "2017-06-21T00:04:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > There’s an article on the [dairygood.org](http://dairygood.org) website about the study, and in the comments, some people asked the same question (Were people being serious? Where is the survey?) and [here](https://dairygood.org/content/2017/survey-some-americans-think-chocolate-milk-comes-from-brown-cows?ref=www.nationaldairycouncil.org) is the reply: Thanks. I saw that page, but I didn’t drill down into the comments. I should have, since the comments section is usually where you get the real science. So, it was intended to be fun, we can’t have the results or methodology, but it was totally, totally valid. It is 100% pure bullshit from a brown bull. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/13 "2017-06-21T00:06:40Z")
I don’t for a minute doubt the survey. In fact, I have an adult cousin who thinks all dogs are male and all cats are female. She thinks dogs inseminate cats, who give birth to a litter of mixed puppies and kittens. Yeah, some people really are that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/14 "2017-06-21T00:18:13Z")
Never underestimate the stupidity and gullibility of the masses. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/15 "2017-06-21T00:27:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Can’t see the article with the ad blocker but if I was asked to answer a poll about where chocolate milk came from and one of the choices was Brown Cows I’d pick that one. If they used a poll I’m surprised only 7% of the people answered that way. We had this discussion, about where various kinds of milk come from, some years ago. Even then, **TriPolar** was assuring us that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. **Little Nemo** gives a plausible account of how a segment of the population has come to believe that. [What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=666205), started by **Ken001** , 09/21/2012. > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/50): > > > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/32): > > > > Chocolate milk comes from brown cows. > > I recently read about a grandfather who had a dairy farm and convinced his visiting grandchildren this was true. He secretly added some chocolate powder to the bottom of a pail and then let the children watch him milk a brown cow into the pail. And sure enough, the pail filled up with chocolate milk, which the kids got to drink. > > The letter I read was from one of the now-adult grandchildren, who admits he believed for years afterwards that it was possible to get chocolate milk from a cow - he had, after all, personally witnessed it happen. That was the same thread in which we examined whether pineapples grow on trees: > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/48): > > They don’t? I thought pineapples grew on pine trees. It took a post from yours truly, and several following, to set _that urban legend_ straight (emphasis added): > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/96): > > > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/95): > > > > > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/94): > > > > > > > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/91): > > > > > > > > Also, cinnamon comes from pine trees! I just discovered that a few years ago. Around December (I guess that’s when pine cones are in season), all the supermarkets around here sell cinnamon pine cones. Maybe they’ve always had them, but I just recently noticed. Who knew that cinnamon comes from pine cones? > > > > > > > > **(And I think, if you cross a cow with a chicken and feed the babies cinnamon pine cones, they will produce egg-nog.)** > > > > > > I hate to break it to you because you seem _really_ excited about this, but… cinnamon pine cones are just cinnamon scented pine cones. Cinnamon comes from the bark of a type of laurel tree called (imaginatively enough) [cinnamomum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamomum). > > > > umm…I hate to break it to you, but I think you’ve just been wooshed. > > (hint: read the next sentence in the same post, wherein he disscusses the origin of egg nog…) > > :smack: ETA: And Concord grape juice comes from purple cows. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/16 "2017-06-21T00:28:34Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Never underestimate the stupidity and gullibility of the masses. Do you mean the people who took the survey, or the people who believe the survey is for real? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/17 "2017-06-21T00:55:53Z")
When my brother’s children were little, they would often prepare chocolate milk (using Nesquik syrup) when visiting my parents’ house. (Actually, they still have chocolate milk, even though one is 23 and the other is 18 years old.) I regularly offered to make them my special “white chocolate chocolate milk” but strangely they never took me up on the offer. (The scam was to leave out the chocolate syrup entirely.) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/18 "2017-06-21T01:01:02Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Do you mean the people who took the survey, or the people who believe the survey is for real? The latter option. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/19 "2017-06-21T05:04:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > ETA: And Concord grape juice comes from purple cows. I never saw a Purple Cow, I never hope to see one; But I can tell you, anyhow, I’d rather see than be one. - Gellett Burgess 1895 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478/20 "2017-06-21T05:11:41Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I never saw a Purple Cow, > I never hope to see one; > But I can tell you, anyhow, > I’d rather see than be one. > > - Gellett Burgess 1895 Also from the Milk Factory thread: > [@What Type of Factory Makes Milk?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-type-of-factory-makes-milk/635373/44): > > \*I never saw a purple cow. > I never hope to see one. > But from the milk we’re getting now, > I’m certain there must be one. \* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-get-chocolate-milk/789478.md?page=2)