The term “high protein” gets thrown around a lot these days. Flip any snack, shake, or cereal box and you’ll see it splashed across the front like a badge of health. But what does it actually mean? And more importantly, does it really mean anything?
As someone who lives and breathes nutrition (and reads way too many food labels), I recently came across a well-known subscription-based brand launching what they called “high protein milk.” That was it. Just that one claim on the front.
Naturally, I flipped it over to see the numbers.
Per 100ml, the milk has just 7g of protein. The serving size? A very specific 425ml, which gives them 30g protein per serving — just enough to meet the legal minimum of 20% Daily Value to call it “high protein.” Sounds smart, right?
But here's the catch:
That one “serving” also gives you:
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13.6g of carbs
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13.5g sugar (from lactose)
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13.6g of fat, nearly 10g of which is saturated fat
So yes, you could drink nearly half a litre of milk to hit your protein goal... but you’d be taking in significant sugar and saturated fat alongside it.
From a regulatory standpoint, they’ve done just enough to make the claim stick. But from a consumer trust standpoint? It’s fuzzy at best.
This should be labeled as “higher protein than regular milk,” not “high protein.”
Because most people won’t drink 425ml in one go — and even if they did, they should know what else they’re getting with that protein.
The bigger issue here? We’re seeing this everywhere. Brands are slapping “high protein” on everything from chips to biscuits to breakfast drinks, hoping you won’t flip the pack to see the full story.
But under a Front-of-Pack Label (FOPL) system like Renewtra’s, this kind of creative marketing wouldn’t pass. A traffic light-style label would show all the macros — protein, sugar, saturated fat — up front, with zero room for ambiguity.
Because if we really care about health, then "high protein" should mean more than just clever math. It should mean honest nutrition.
