Baltimore also pulls flavored milk after reports of “quality” issues at four schools
City Schools says no illnesses have been reported as a result of the “slimy” chocolate milk. Vendor Cloverland Farms Dairy said it was working to determine the cause of “the variance”
Above: Milk dumped by a Dundalk area school last Thursday.
The “slimy” milk reported at Baltimore County Public Schools was also apparently turning up in Baltimore City school cafeterias last week.
“Baltimore City Public Schools contacted the milk vendor on September 7 after four schools reported issues with the quality of the chocolate milk,” media and public relations manager Sherry Christian told The Brew today.
“The chocolate milk at these four schools was collected for laboratory testing by the vendor and outside labs,” Christian said, noting that the district has pulled all chocolate milk while the vendor, Cloverland Farms Dairy, reviews the samples.
“City Schools will continue to monitor all milk served and will not be ordering flavored milk from the vendor until the issue is resolved,” she said, noting that “no illnesses have been reported as a result of anyone drinking chocolate milk.”
Gelatinous Milk
Last week, after a Baltimore County parent complained and her video of the gelatinous milk at Sparrows Point High School went viral, Baltimore County Public Schools sent an email to the school community acknowledging the problem.
Cloverland “recently informed school districts across the state about a production issue impacting chocolate and strawberry milk,” the email said.
The Baltimore-based company asked school systems to “remove these items from service,” the email said, adding that, “while the chocolate and strawberry milk currently does not meet quality standards, it would not create adverse health effects for students who may have consumed it.”
Cloverland Farms Dairy, which has not returned requests for comment from The Brew, is the owner of Royal Farms, which operates over 240 convenience stores in Maryland and elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic. In 2014, Royal Farms purchased naming rights to the Baltimore Arena.
In a September 7 email to Baltimore County Schools obtained by The Brew, a company representative says Cloverland is working to “correct this variance quickly.”
The email said the company is working to identify the “root cause” of the issue and has “narrowed its focus” focus to a particular ingredient and lot number.