Health :: Shake calcium-fortified drinks before pouring

People who drink calcium-fortified soy and rice drinks instead of milk should shake the carton before pouring, a U.S. study found.

Researchers discovered calcium added as a powder in soy, rice and orange juice can settle, forming a calcium sludge at the bottom of the carton, USA Today reported.

Scientists at the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University in Omaha spun various fortified beverages in a centrifuge and measured how much calcium ended up at the bottom of the test tubes — 11 percent in cow’s milk, but in soy and rice milks an average of 85 percent. The numbers in orange juice ranged from 8 percent to 50 percent.

“We had to shake the carton right before serving it, because if it’s on the bottom of the carton, you’re not getting it in your glass,” said Connie Weaver, a professor of nutrition at Purdue University who studies calcium metabolism.

The study appears in the journal Nutrition.

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