A fun way to drink milk

If you find it troublesome to cater to the differing tastebuds your kids have for milk, you might want to try a different way of pleasing your milk guzzlers by using Sipahh milk flavoring straws. Rather than having to stock up on cartons of various flavored milk such as chocolate for kid no.1, strawberry for kid no.2 and plain for kid no.3, or having to buy chocolate or other flavored syrups to mix with milk, these milk flavoring straws might just be your savior.

Sipahh milk flavoring straws were invented by a man named Peter Baron and was first sold in Australia in 2005. The straw is filled with flavored beads, called UniBeads. According to the Sipahh website, "as the milk is sipped through Sipahh, the UniBeads dissolve and turn boring white milk into a healthy snack that everyone can enjoy".

The website also lists the flavors that are available (they vary by country):

Chocolate
Choc Mint
Choc Honeycomb
Strawberry
Cookies & Cream
Honeycomb
Banana
Choc Banana
Toffee Apple
Vanilla
Caramel

Check out the website here for more details and on how to use the straw.

The skinny:

1. Convenience - you need to only stock up on just one flavor i.e. plain milk, be it full cream, skim, low fat, goat's milk or milk alternatives like soy. No need to buy sticky flavored syrups or powders that you need to mix or stir into milk. Less worry on expiry dates, wastage of unfinished milk.  Easier to stock up on straws that take up less space and don't require refrigeration.

2. Handy - each box contains 10 individually-wrapped straws. They can be easily packed into your bag or picnic basket when you're on the go.

3. No wastage - each straw is good for one portion of milk (200-250ml) your child usually drinks.

4. Relatively safe - each straw contains no preservatives, less than ½ teaspoon of sugar and is gluten free. It is suitable for vegetarians and also "helps deliver the goodness of milk including protein, calcium and riboflavin" according to the website. However, like all man-made products, its ingredients have added flavor (non-artificial), color (natural) and sweetener.

5. Pricing - reasonable

6. Choice - too many flavors to choose from, especially if the country you live in offers a wider range.

7. Hygienic and green - each straw is individually wrapped and good for one use only. They are recyclable. Each Sipahh is manufactured according to strict quality standards and under HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) conditions. Sipahh is also FDA (Food & Drug Administration) safety compliant in the USA.

8. Best used with cold or room temperature milk.

9. Fun - it's quite a novelty at first for your kids to drink milk using these straws. My daughter who usually drinks a portion of less than 200 ml of milk had actually asked me for a top-up when she noticed there were still some undissolved UniBeads left in the straw after finishing about 150ml of milk. They might also be eager to drink more milk simply because they want to try out the different flavors. My daughter likes the chocolate and strawberry but not the banana or caramel.

Check out their FAQs here.

Finally, if you're like me, wondering why on earth this product is strangely named Sipahh, it's just simply this:

"Simply dip into cold milk, Sip, and say Ahh!"