Study finds 16.4 million Americans think chocolate milk comes out of the cow like that

Woman milking a cow.
(Image credit: SERGEI GAPON/AFP/Getty Images)

Sorry, everyone: Chocolate milk does not come from brown cows. Are you rolling your eyes? Well, hold onto your horses — a new study by the Innovation Center of U.S. Dairy found that 7 percent of American adults, or approximately 16.4 million people, think chocolate milk comes out of the cow like that.

"The most surprising thing about this figure may actually be that it isn't higher," The Washington Post boldly estimates. The Post adds that "Americans are basically agriculturally illiterate," citing a Department of Agriculture study from the early 1990s that found "nearly 1 in 5 adults did not know that hamburgers are made from beef."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.