So At Least The Heart Disease Won’t Come From Drinking Milk

In its effort to promote a healthier New York, the City Health Department is going all out to encourage bodegas to sell . . . wait for it . . . not lettuce, not an apple, not even whole-wheat bread but rather low-fat milk:

Drop the can of Pringles chips, put back that Snickers bar, forget about the Oreos — healthy eats are coming to a bodega near you.

The city Health Department is launching an unprecedented bodega health-food campaign, The Post has learned.

Starting next month, 15 bodegas in Brooklyn, Harlem and The Bronx will begin selling low-fat milk as part of a pilot program to get the neighborhood delis to sell healthier alternatives.

If low-fat milk sales are strong, the program will be expanded to include more bodegas — and more food products, such as diet beverages, healthy fresh vegetables and low-fat dairy and snacks, said Lynn Silver, the Health Department’s assistant commissioner for chronic-disease prevention and control.

City officials will hang posters promoting the low-fat milk and help store owners track sales.

“Bodegas are an important source of food in communities,” said Silver. “But many stores only stock whole milk.”

It’s easy to see how brisk sales of Terra Blue Potato Chips and Pom will surely follow, but some aren’t so sure:

While many customers said yesterday they’d like to see more healthy choices on the shelves, store owners were skeptical whether people would actually buy them.

“I’ve tried selling skim milk but nobody buys it,” said Hanoud El Gazali, owner of the Harlem Deli Grocery.

“Not everybody likes skim milk. It might be good for people, but it’s not always good for business.”