X-Milk

X-Milk - I gotta assume that the "X" as usual stands for extreme - is the next Vitamin Water.

At least that's what consultant David Towner hopes. He helped launch Vitamin Water but didn't get the big paycheck that went with its success. He's hoping X-Milk makes him rich.

"I did the math in my head and figured out that if I had just a 1 percent share of Vitamin Water, I'd have $100 million right now," said Towner. "So I decided the next time I saw something that had a billion-dollar potential, I would waive my fees and invest my own resources of time and money into the product in exchange for a percentage in the company."

The article, by James Pilcher of Cincinnati.com, explained that:

The product, which is based on milk but includes more protein and vitamins with less lactose than regular milk and doesn't need to be refrigerated, has been test marketed at the area's 11 bigg's stores since late July. It is priced at three 8-ounce cartons for $5 and available in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavors.

Towner says the company is selling 1,500 cartons a week just through bigg's in-store promotions.

Oddly, the actual X-Milk website claims that its product is lactose free.

X-milk is a great tasting, lactose free, milk-based, nutritious beverage formulated to deliver all the nutrients your body needs to maintain, replenish and energize without the use of stimulants or synthetic sweeteners. The formulation of X-milk provides at least 25% of the RDA of every fundamental vitamin, mineral, essential amino acid and protein with only 8 grams of fat and 0 grams of trans-fat. X-milk does not have to be mixed, measured, or stirred. Simply shake and drink. The tetra pak aseptic process guarantees a stable shelf life of at least 12 months without refrigeration. For the medical community, X-milk is accepted by Medicare and Medicaid.

I can't explain the discrepancy, and it's a pretty big difference.

UPDATE:
David Towner wrote me with the following explanation of the lactose-free issue, which I am posting with his permission.

I recently read your posting about X-Milk and wanted to answer your question about our lactose free wording. X-Milk is definitely lactose free and all of or our literature and labeling states so. However, if we made that claim in a retail environment and there was even a trace of lactose detected in our product, we would open ourselves up to mis-directed scrutiny (most likely by a competitor). We are a small company and in an effort to avoid this battle, we decided to make only a 98% lactose free claim.

Likewise, our nutritional claims are under-stated in order to avoid the same situation relative to vitamin/mineral content. In essence, we would rather under-promise and over-deliver.

We have produced hundreds of thousands of cartons and have never found even a trace of lactose in our product.

p.s. X-Milk is certified Kosher.

That seems to be definitive. X-Milk can be called a lactose-free product. That's great news for those of us who are lactose intolerant. The rest of you readers need to beware of the milk.