A Storm In A Milo Cup

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I don’t like Milo. I’m telling you that straight away so you can’t say that I’m showing any bias towards the new Milo recipe.

Apparently – or so I’m led to believe – people all over the country are up in arms about Nestlé changing the taste of Milo. Children, demanding the return of the taste of their favourite hot drink, are – I’m sure – organising protest marches or emails of complaint to the manufacturers as I type.

But what’s all the fuss about? Nestlé, a company which makes thousands of products in many different countries around the world, have slightly changed a recipe. Well. Fancy that! I’m sure that many readers of this article will have cooked or baked something at home and, after tasting it, have tried something slightly different or used better quality ingredients next time.

The ‘Old Milo Supporters’ will say that there’s nothing wrong with the old taste. They’ll say ‘if there’s nothing wrong with it, don’t fix it’. But if you look closely at Nestlé’s reasons for change, you will find that they’re actually quite sensible: having sustainably-sourced cocoa, removing some of the artificial flavours, concentrating on fewer and better-quality main ingredients of cocoa, milk, barley and sugar, whilst adding some extra vitamins and nutrients. Kids, after all, are the main drinkers of Milo and they need to grow up healthy. Seems pretty sensible of Nestlé to me.

Those ‘Old Milo Supporters’, it seems, want the old taste, a less healthy drink, and more ingredients that are not fairly traded or sustainably grown. To make matters even more ridiculous, bags of ‘old Milo’ are now for sale on TradeMe at silly prices ($40 for 900g in one case!)…

Of course, the New Zealand public could always just stop buying the new Milo if they don’t like.

[colored_box color=”green”]This is an opinion-based article designed to provoke debate, discussion and further inquiry amongst your students:  [/colored_box]  [colored_box color=”yellow”]Critical Thinking Challenges:

1. If the public stopped buying the new Milo recipe, how would Nestlé react?

2. Are people who buy food the best judges of what should go into it?

[/colored_box] [colored_box color=”green”]Practical Task:

1. Look at the packaging and nutritional information on a packet of Milo. Would you consider it a healthy drink? What standards do you think a healthy drink should meet?

2. According to some news reports, people who prefer the ‘old Milo’ taste are stockpiling packets of the older recipe. What would you stockpile if it was running out or changing? What are your favourite foods that you simply couldn’t do without (and might pay lots of money from TradeMe for)?

[/colored_box] [colored_box color=”red”]Have Your Say: [socialpoll id=”[socialpoll id=”2275888″] [/colored_box]

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