A beverage composition and a method of its preparation are provided. The beverage composition contains about 0.1% to about 10% of a milk product, 100 ppm to about 1500 ppm of a polyphosphate, and about 100 ppm to about 1000 ppm of a chemical preservative. The chemical preservative is selected from the group consisting of sorbic acid, benzoic acid, alkali metal salts thereof and mixtures thereof. The beverage composition has a pH in the range of about 2.0 to about 4.5.
