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PM Poshan scheme highlights potential of UHT milk in boosting nutrition in school children
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Tuesday, 03 June, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Bengaluru
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Milk Fed Punjab's Verka brand recently piloted a school milk programme to support the PM Poshan scheme in schools. Through this initiative, students in Chandigarh received nutritious milk in Tetra Pak cartons. PM Poshan (formerly Mid-Day Meal) scheme has revealed overwhelming acceptance of UHT (Ultra High Temperature) milk among schoolchildren, reinforcing the potential of packaged milk in India’s school nutrition programmes.
The study surveyed 4,484 children (ages 3–13) and 57 key stakeholders, including parents, school administrators, and programme coordinators across Chandigarh. "Ensuring access to safe and nutritious milk in schools can be a game-changer for childhood development. This study confirms the strong acceptance of UHT milk among students and makes a compelling case for expanding school milk programmes across India. By scaling up distribution and integrating milk’s nutritional benefits, we can address key public health challenges like malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. Stakeholder collaboration remains crucial to ensuring the success of such initiatives," said a Verka spokesperson.
The key findings are 80% of students rated the cardamom-flavoured UHT milk from Verka as highly satisfactory. At least 69% of children recognised benefits of milk, with 22% associating it primarily with strong bones and 44% of students consumed milk over four times a week, while 38% had it two to four times weekly. At least 82% of children responsibly disposed of empty milk packets in designated bins, reinforcing positive environmental habits.
The study conducted by Verka in collaboration with Punjab University, the Department of Education (Chandigarh), Tetra Pak, and NGO Yuvsatta highlighted effectiveness of aseptic UHT milk
Packaging ensuring food safety and extends shelf life without refrigeration, making it an ideal solution for large-scale school meal programmes.
The study calls for an increase in milk distribution days, enhanced awareness campaigns on its nutritional benefits. Regular monitoring and continuous stakeholder engagement are also recommended to strengthen programme implementation.
After consumption, Milk Fed Punjab's Verka brand cartons were collected by a local NGO and collection agencies and recycled into various useful items such as notebooks, planters, school desks and more. To encourage milk consumption among school kids, Verka made milk available in cardamom elaichi flavour to begin with, making it more appealing to children.
In addition to providing much needed nutrition to children, this school milk initiative served as an educational opportunity for children, teaching them the importance of responsible consumption and planet-friendly practices like recycling, stated the communication note.
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