For children above the age of 1, dairy milk is “recommended,” although the fat content and amount changes with age. Juice should be limited, the panel says. Pretty much everything else except water should be “avoided.” This includes all plant-based milks, unless necessary because of allergies. This also includes “toddler milk,” which has increased rapidly in popularity (it contains mostly powdered milk, corn syrup and vegetable oil).

Before going any further, let’s acknowledge where there is consensus. Human infants, like all mammals, depend on milk for sustenance at the beginning of life. Breastfeeding (human milk) is almost always recommended, as well as baby formula until 1 year of age if breastfeeding is not feasible. Most experts also think that children should continue to be breastfed or transition to whole cow’s milk until they’re 2. The fat is believed to aid in brain development.

It’s at that point that things get tricky.

There’s very little high-quality evidence, and no comparable mammalian example, to argue for the specialness of cow’s milk after this period. Arguments that it’s good for you because it has protein and other vitamins and minerals could be made about many, many other foods (but those foods don’t receive such official recommendations of support).

The recommendation that we limit juice, and not just avoid it, is also somewhat questionable. The argument for juice is that while we’d prefer that children eat fruits and vegetables, some just won’t. In that case, the experts argue that 100 percent fruit juice “may be an important way to meet these recommendations.”

But juice is not healthful. It’s full of sugar. A 12-ounce glass of apple juice has the same amount as a can of soda (grape juice has even more). It’s also a processed food. It contains no fiber and does nothing to sate you. It’s empty calories. Studies show that adults who eat an apple before a meal consume fewer calories during that meal; drinking a glass of juice instead has much less of an effect on calorie consumption.