What's The Difference Between Chocolate Milk And Chocolate Drink?

Whether paired with a stack of cookies or as a snack all its own, a creamy chocolate beverage is a nostalgic favorite. But choosing a carton or bottle to satisfy this craving can be a little confusing. Depending on the source and brand, you may see the drink described as chocolate milk or another term — chocolate drink. If they look and taste similarly, what's the distinction between these two drinks? Much like a frozen hot chocolate and a chocolate milkshake, they're actually very different drinks.

The labeling is actually meant to provide consumers with a hint as to the distinction. Chocolate milk is, well, milk — but made chocolatey with the addition of syrup or powdered mix. A chocolate drink like Yoo-hoo, for example, has no liquid milk. Its ingredient list instead begins with water. There is some nonfat dry milk and whey in there, but the rest of the elements are mostly sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, stabilizers, and emulsifiers.

If the label doesn't provide enough contextual evidence, a quick side-by-side comparison of these drinks can easily dispel any belief they are the same product. The chocolate drink is considerably thinner and lighter in color than true chocolate milk, which might matter if you fret over which is better for hot chocolate: milk or water. In fact, some consumers have actually compared the taste and texture of a chocolate drink to chocolate-syrup-spiked water rather than milk.

Lacking substantial dairy means chocolate drinks have a longer shelf-life, but as an invention, chocolate milk pre-dates the chocolate drink by a few hundred years. When it did hit the market in the early 20th century, though, Yoo-hoo found customers undeterred by the absence of liquid dairy — especially baseball fans once slugger Yogi Berra started promoting the stuff. Those ads referred to Yoo-hoo as a chocolate energy soft drink, but these days soft drink usually indicates carbonated soda, and the phrase energy drink is assigned to beverages categorized as dietary supplements.

Yoo-Hoo isn't the only popular chocolate drink brand. Other chocolate drinks include beverages made with syrups like Hershey's or Ghirardelli, or powdered products like Ovaltine, Swiss Miss, or Nesquik Powder, all of which can be made with milk but also with plant-based milks (or even mixed into your coffee). Nesquik's bottled chocolate low fat milk, on the other hand, does contain milk as its primary ingredient. 

Yoo-hoo's packaging announces that it's a good source of vitamins; it does contain a daily value of 25% Vitamin A and its 15% of vitamin D is comparable to some chocolate milks. It clocks in with about ½ the calcium, though, and contains considerably more sodium (330mg to 220mg, respectively), and nearly double the total sugars than a chocolate milk like Volleman's, for example. Your criteria may vary based on craving, dietary needs, or simply preference, but no matter which drink you choose, you're in for a treat.