Past few months, milk powder is a top-rated topic in the country. And according to the government as well as the media, milk powder is an essential item for the people.
With less stock in the market and low supply with the demand, there is a long awaiting line in the shops for buying milk powder. And some news shows parents crying to the camera saying their children need milk powder for the morning. And if not they get weak.
However, with the marketing campaigns and the sponsorships. The milk powder companies put an idea to their consumers saying that it is an essential drink for them to start the day fresh and energetic. Their source of sending this persuasive message to the consumers is using social media, television, and printed media. And they are using reputed trustworthy people to show in their commercials like actors, cricketers, and many other reputed people.
By using this media and people. They plant this message as milk powder is an essential item for starting their day.
Is milk powder good or bad for our health?
Milk powder contains many rich nutrients other than carbohydrates, Protein, and fats such as;
- Calcium
- Riboflavin
- Phosphorus
- Vitamin A and B12
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Iodine
And besides that, powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol. Oxidized cholesterol refers to the wax-like substance that sticks to the wall of arteries and harms the blood vessels. To increase the shelf life of milk, this artificial substance add to the powdered milk which can further trigger the formation of plaques, which are the beginning of heart diseases. And also, there is a high amount of sugar added to the milk powder to make it tastier.
However, other than the high levels of sugar and cholesterol, some minor health problems may occur with milk powders that contain some added items or medicines.
And also, there is no clear clarification that Milk Powder is bad for your health. But it is not 100% necessary nutritional requirement for adults other than infants.
But the real question is whether it is necessary to have a cup of milk tea in the morning. And are there any health problems with not having a cup of milk every day? According to the research, it has been said that about 86% of consumers use powdered milk than fresh milk and from those results, females were 2.2 times more likely to select powdered milk than males.1] Rupasinghe, Ruwini & Morey, Ryen & Michele, Miller & Manoji, Achala & Salgado, Ayesha & Jinadasa, Rasika & Smith, Woutirna & Wickramasinghe, Saumya. (2020). Powdered over fresh milk preference and hygienic dairy practices in Sri Lanka. 10.21203/rs.3.rs-66182/v1.
How do they persuade people?
Those companies throw lots of money to do their campaigns to gain more and more customers. With that, they keep the customers up to date with their products. On other hand, they sponsor school events and social works related to the children while promoting their products child friendly. This is how they created their brand loyalty and brand loyalty takes place when customers “have a positive attitude towards a brand, as well as being involved in repeated buying”. Through advertising, brand loyalty can be built in customers’ minds when they generate “emotional attachment by either being integrated into [their] self-image or linked to past experiences” 2Solomon, M., Bamossy, G., & Askegaard, S. (2001). Consumer behavior: a European perspective. Harlow, New York: Financial Times/Prentice-Hall. As cited in Tuan, Luu & Phuong, Nguyen & Ngoc, Luu & Mai, Luu. (2012). Powdered Milk Consumers’ Buying Behavior. International Journal of Business and Management. 8. 10.5539/ijbm. v8n2p29.
Advertising by companies
Furthermore, there are a lot of TV commercials and paper ads going on saying how good and beneficial drinking a cup of milk in the morning is. And promoting their brand using influential people as told earlier. With these influences, people tend to think that it is a must to drink a cup of milk every day and if not, they are not getting enough nutrition for their bodies, especially the children. And also, because of this persuasion, people are walking everywhere looking for milk powder with long awaiting queues in front of the shops. With this high demand, the shops as well as the milk production companies bargain with the price.
However, in this situation, most people do not want to stop drinking milk and move on. They make this a day-to-day problem in their life and take hard times looking for milk powder. And the worst is they spent a lot of their money on this by buying many other items that they do not want. Because the sellers force them to buy some other items if they want a packet of milk powder.3dailymirror.lk. Milk powder combos put customers in a fix. 18 sep 2021. https://www.dailymirror.lk/plus/MILK-POWDER-COMBOS-PUT-CUSTOMERS-IN-A-FIX/352-220652
Solutions to get away with this situation.
People must aware that drinking milk powder daily does not give some special health benefits. And, with the price increases and low supply to the demand, it is a good idea to move on to some other food supplements such as Kola Kenda (gruel made with mixing rice, Gotukola, and some other herbal leaves). Besides that, eating a healthy breakfast give you more energy than drinking a cup of milk. Or else people can always use fresh milk as a substitute.
And also, try to choose nutrition-rich foods that you can find around you and add them to your daily diet plan. It will increase your physical and mental health as well as your immunity to various diseases.
Furthermore, there may be slight variation in the prices and supply of the milk powder with low demand.
Cover image credit: Designed by vectorjuice / Freepik