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Revolutionary milk variety is an udder success says Sainsbury's

- New 1% milk set to outsell skimmed milk within a month of launch

- 4 million pints to be given away at Sainsbury’s stores this Friday

- “Quiet dietary revolution” will effortlessly save the average milk consumer the equivalent saturated fat of 350 chocolate chip cookies a year

A new milk product that sits between semi-skimmed milk and skimmed milk is proving to be an enormous success with Sainsbury’s customers just a week-and-a-half after launch.

The new orange-topped 1% fat milk, which contains nearly half the fat of semi-skimmed milk, is flying off the shelves. Within ten days of launch, one in 20 Sainsbury’s milk customers had already converted to 1% milk. At current sales rates, 1% milk could account for higher sales than skimmed milk within a matter of weeks.

Those converting from semi-skimmed milk will save the average saturated fat content of 350 chocolate chip biscuits a year. If all UK semi-skimmed consumers were to switch to 1% fat milk, they could reduce their collective saturated fat intake by 12,000 tonnes per year or 112 million blocks of lard .

Sainsbury’s forecasts that 1% milk could even unseat semi-skimmed milk as the most popular milk variety within a few years. Since the mid-1990s, semi-skimmed sales have overtaken whole milk sales, and semi-skimmed now accounts for more than twice the amount of milk consumed than its nearest rival.

“For 1% fat milk, a new market entrant, to be selling nearly as well as skimmed milk in a matter of weeks is absolutely unparalleled”, said Emma Metcalf-King, Senior Milk Buyer at Sainsbury’s. “We’ve evidently found a gap in the market. It’s the sort of product that can create a quiet dietary revolution – enabling customers to effortlessly trade down in fat and saturated fat with no compromise on taste or calcium content.”

She added: “Taste tests show that there is no discernable difference between semi-skimmed and its 1% fat neighbour and we�re confident that once they’ve tried it, health-conscious customers will shift to this lower fat alternative.”

Sainsbury’s will conduct a UK-wide giveaway of 1% milk, offering 4 million pints to customers on its Make A Difference Day this Friday May 16. The event will be Sainsbury’s biggest ever milk giveaway with predictions of a significant shift in buying patterns as customers switch to the benefits of taste without the fat.

Professor Judy Buttriss, Director General, British Nutrition Foundation comments: “It is very encouraging that people are responding so quickly to this opportunity to cut their saturated fat intake by switching to milk that contains just 1% fat. This new product still allows people to access the valuable nutrients, especially calcium, that milk provides without compromising on taste”.

To help customers to recognise 1% milk in stores Sainsbury’s has developed a new orange colour way. Sainsbury’s milk range is now clearly colour coded as follows:
� Whole – less than 4% fat (2.3% saturated) BLUE
� Semi Skimmed – less than 2% fat (1.0% saturated) GREEN
� 1% Milk – 1.0% fat (0.6% saturated) ORANGE
� Skimmed – 0.1% fat (0.06% saturated) RED

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Notes to Editors: – Images available upon request – Sainsbury’s 1% fat Milk – in all stores and convenience stores nationwide – 1pt, 2pt and 4pt variants in stock – Sainsbury’s 1% milk is supplied by Robert Wisemans and Dairy Crest – Same retail price as other standard milk varieties – 1% fat milk is not recommended for children aged two and under who need the extra energy for growth. The Department of Health states that children aged 1-2 years should have whole cows milk and from 2-5 years they can have whole or semi-skimmed milk (if they are a good eater and have reached a healthy weight), but not skimmed. – Although it contains nearly half the fat of semi-skimmed, 1% milk retains the same amount of calcium and vitamin B as semi-skimmed and skimmed milk. Calcium from dairy is better absorbed than any other source of calcium and a 200ml glass of 1% milk can provide an adult with more than 1/3 of his/her daily calcium requirement.

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