Trader Joes

Rated at 1/5 green leaves, the Trader Joe’s Ultra-Filtered Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk falls significantly short of our standards for cleaner food options. This product is not organic, and it includes non-GMO ingredients, which immediately affects its standing on our scale. Moreover, the presence of added sugars further detracts from its healthfulness.

Delving into the details, the chocolate milk contains sugar, which contributes to its low score due to the negative health impacts associated with excessive sugar consumption. The additives such as natural flavor and gellan gum raise concerns as potentially harmful substances, while the inclusion of tapioca starch and steviol glycosides also impacts the product’s overall rating. The product lists vitamin A palmitate and vitamin D3, which are commonly added to fortify milk; however, these do not compensate for the product’s other shortcomings.

The ingredient list does not explicitly mention palm oil, yet the scoring penalizes the product for harmful oils, which could be due to an association with the natural flavor or a misreading of the ingredient list. If palm oil is indeed present, its inclusion would be a significant concern due to environmental and health implications.

This chocolate milk’s low score reflects a combination of factors: it’s non-organic, contains GMOs, added sugars, and questionable additives. These elements are critical in our assessment, leading us to advise consumers to avoid this product in pursuit of cleaner, healthier food choices. Our rating system aims to guide consumers toward products that meet a higher standard of health and sustainability, and unfortunately, this chocolate milk does not align with those goals.