e-Moo, the dairy-based carbonated beverage for children developed by Delaware-based Mac Farms, has received the USDA’s seal of approval as the only carbonated nutritional beverage allowed to be sold in public school cafeterias.
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Since 1991, the USDA has not allowed flavoured, sweetened, carbonated products to be sold in school cafeterias. The US school food service market, grades K-12, is comprised of approximately 6,200 schools.
“We are very excited about the prospect of selling e-Moo in school cafeterias,” said George Clark, VP operations: “The USDA’s exemption has been a very important step for Mac Farms. Now we can get e-Moo directly in front of the kids, which means providing them with a healthy beverage they actually think is cool. This is an important step towards expanding the acceptance of dairy beverages by youngsters who have tended in recent years to drink less nutritious beverages more often.”
e-Moo was designed for the taste and eyes of a child, with distinct flavours, vibrant product colours and child-focused product size and packaging, said Mac Farms. The fizz in e-Moo adds an element of surprise and excitement and puts the product on the same interest level of a soda. At the same time the carbonation improves the inherent characteristics of milk: mouth-feel and flavour appeal are enhanced and shelf-life is extended up to 8 weeks.
The Pioneer School District in Yorkshire, NY will be the first US School district to make e-Moo available in the cafeteria during lunch hour. A recent sampling showed that a significant majority of their K-4 would buy the product.
e-Moo was developed with the assistance of Cornell University, PRAXAIR, and Dairy Management Inc. (DMI). It currently comes in Chocolate-Zing, Mooberry, BubbleBlast and Orange Sparkle, and will shortly be available in SuperValu Stores, Penn Traffic stores, and the Walgreens Pharmacy network.
