Sizing up low-fat milks

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Light, reduced, skim - when it comes to milk, how low can you go? It seems fat is virtually disappearing from diet milks and that's a hit with consumers. The market in reduced and low-fat milks grew almost nine per cent last year.

Such milks are now 40 per cent of the milk we buy.

Five years ago, furniture removalist Geoff Barden changed to a desk-bound administrative job and stacked on the weight.

"I drink a lot of milk throughout the day - I drink it in tea and coffee and cereal," he said.

But in just three months he has shed 7kg and he puts a lot of that down to low-fat milk.

"I used to drink full-cream milk and on the advice of a dietician I went round and just chose a low-fat milk that suited my taste," Mr Barden said.

Mr Barden usually drinks Farmers Best, which is 98 per cent fat-free.

But, like most shoppers, he found the choice at the supermarket overwhelming.

"It was confusing at first to look at the labels," he said.

"And then you decide which of the fats, which contains the fat and obviously taste is another important thing."

With that in mind, we bought 20 different low-fat milks to find out what these claims mean, which are best for weight watchers and which are best for calcium-conscious consumers.

Dietician Michelle Pink says it pays to check the labels, which now must state the percentages of ingredients.

"The new laws are very specific about the amount of fat that are in different types of milk, so for example 'light' - there are guidelines about what can be said in terms of 'light' but also with the different types of milk," she said.

Types of milk

• Full-cream milk contains up to 4% fat.
• "Light" milks have half that amount of fat, or less.
• Milks claiming to be "reduced-fat" must have less than 2% fat.
• "Low-fat" milk must contain less than 1%.
• Skim milk and "no-fat" varieties must not contain more than 0.15% fat.

"Make sure that you're not consuming more calories than you need each day - and that's the bottom line when it comes to controlling weight," Ms Pink said.

Reduced-fat milks

• Lite White and Farmer's Best contain 1.4% fat
• Zymil, for those avoiding lactose, has 1.5% fat.
• Pauls Trim UHT contains 1.6% fat.

If you want as little fat as possible - 0.15 per cent or less - here's the best in our bunch.

No-fat milks

• Weight Watchers Skim long-life, contains less than 0.1% fat.
• Pauls Slim Skim, Devondale Point One and its UHT skim milk, Dairy Farmers Skim, Pura Tone, Shape and Skinny Milk all contain 0.1% fat.
• So Good soy milk has no fat.
• Soy Life contains 0.15% fat.

"Some of the lower-fat milks do have more calcium, which is an added benefit really, because the calcium is found in the non-fat part of the milk," Ms Pink said.

"So when there's no fat in the milk - when the fat's removed - there's more room for more calcium."

High-calcium milks

• Pura Tone
• Dairy Farmers Life
• Shape
• Rev
• Skinny Milk
• So Good Essential

In our study, these brands were highest in calcium, with up to 415mg per 250ml serve, or 52 per cent of our recommended daily intake, while full-fat milk contains 300mg of calcium, or 38 per cent of our recommended daily intake.

The outright winners in our group, if you want the lowest fat, highest calcium combination, were the following.

Low-fat, high-calcium milks

• Pura Tone
• Shape
• Skinny Milk
• Devondale Point One UHT
• Weight Watchers Skim long-life milk

But low-fat milks are not everyone's drink.

"For example, children under the age of five - it's not recommended because they need the extra fat and energy for growth," Ms Pink said.

"But older children can definitely consume reduced-fat milks if desirable."

And Mr Barden has this final tip when it comes to choosing a low-fat milk.

"Obviously taste is another important thing, so you've got to look at one that suits you and obviously tastes better," he said.