Chocolate milk drinkers can relax. After a two-year study, Dr. James Dunning, professor of Ecological Dentistry at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine has found that there is no significant correlation between sugar-sweetened chocolate milk and cavaties.

Dr. Dunning, who performed the study at two Massachusetts schools for retarded children and adults, divided his subjects into four groups each of which drank different types of milk.

Our Group Had...

The group that drank conventional milk-containing sugar and cocoa-and another that had a preparation of cocoa and artificially-sweetened milk showed an insignificant increase in cavaties as compared to the group that drank whole milk.

Dunning discarded the results from the fourth group, which drank a milk preparation containing sugar and an artificial flavoring and coloring which imitated cocoa because they were too varied.

Dunning explained that the insignificant increase in cavaties resulting from chocolate milk was due to the small amount of sugar in the milk and that the subjects had the milk in their mouths for a short time.

Previous studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between sugar in certain forms, such as candy, and cavaties.

The study, which was financed by the American Association of Chocolate Manufacturers and the National Dairy Council, is the first to examine the relationship between chocolate milk containing sugar and dental decay.