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Milk added to tea and coffee measures program

Background

In September 2011, FSANZ undertook a small program to estimate the weight of a 'dash' or 'splash' of milk typically added to tea, or to coffee prepared from instant coffee powder. The results were used to assign a gram amount to dashes and splashes of milk reported as added to tea or coffee during the 2011-13 Australian Health Survey (AHS).

Sampling and preparation

Volunteers from FSANZ were asked to prepare themselves a tea or coffee after first weighing their empty cup. The cup was then re-weighed to determine the volume of tea or coffee without added milk. Participants were then asked to add their 'usual' quantity of milk to their beverage, and record whether they considered this amount to be a dash, a splash or something else. The entire cup with tea or coffee and added milk was then weighed a final time to allow the gram weight and the proportion of milk in the beverage to be determined.

Results

A total of 45 suitable weights for a dash or splash of milk added to tea or coffee were recorded. There was substantial variation in the amount of milk added to tea and coffee ranging from 5-79 g, with an average of 31 g. The range of values and averages were similar whether people called the addition a 'dash' or a 'splash'.

The volume of the tea or coffee did not have an effect on the quantity of milk added, with the proportion of milk ranging from 2% in a 227 g beverage to 47% in 169 g beverage.

The quantity of milk did not differ whether it was added to tea or coffee. Average measures for both 'dash' and 'splash' in tea or coffee were within 4 g of each other.

The complete set of results generated from this program is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Amount of milk added to tea or coffee as a dash or splash

Number Reported as dash or splash Weight of tea or coffee only (g) Weight of milk (g) % of milk in beverage
1 dash 90 79 47
2 dash 162 31 16
3 dash 165 47 22
4 dash 170 5 3
5 splash 170 16 9
6 dash 173 48 22
7 dash 181 27 13
8 dash 182 23 11
9 dash 185 9 5
10 splash 185 32 15
11 dash 189 20 10
12 dash 191 20 9
13 dash 191 27 12
14 dash 195 21 10
15 dash 199 22 10
16 dash 200 9 4
17 dash 202 19 9
18 splash 202 58 22
19 dash 209 11 5
20 dash 210 9 4
21 splash 211 51 19
22 splash 215 15 7
23 dash 221 13 6
24 dash 221 38 15
25 dash 222 9 4
26 splash 222 5 2
27 dash 226 27 11
28 splash 227 27 11
29 splash 227 35 13
30 dash 228 16 7
31 dash 229 18 7
32 dash 231 9 4
33 splash 233 38 14
34 splash 234 48 17
35 dash 239 19 7
36 dash 240 71 23
37 splash 242 43 15
38 splash 242 50 17
39 splash 243 54 18
40 dash 246 54 18
41 dash 258 19 7
42 splash 261 51 16
43 dash 266 28 10
44 dash 272 18 6
45 dash 280 17 6
Average (range):        
  dash 209 (90-280) 25 (5-79) 11 (3-47)
  splash 222 (170-261) 37 (5-58) 14 (2-22)
  dash & splash 213 (90-280) 31 (5-79) 12 (2-47)

Updates to the food measures database

Given the small differences observed, it was concluded that a dash and splash could be assumed to be the same for the purpose of the AHS. The final volume for dash and splash was considered to be 30 mL.

The 30 mL volume was then multiplied by the density of each milk type, to calculate a gram weight for each of the milk or milk-replacement products reported as dash or splash during the AHS. These include:

  • all liquid cow's milk (including condensed and evaporated)
  • coconut milk
  • soy beverage
  • goat milk
  • oat milk
  • rice milk

Conclusion

The results of the dash and splash measures program have given FSANZ an improved level of confidence about the quality of the dash and splash measures for milk added to tea or coffee reported during the AHS.

Page last updated 9 January 2024