Yes to yogurt
New kid on the yogurt block. Photo courtesy Muller Quaker Dairy.
Something very strange happened in our household recently. A carton of yogurt turned up in the refrigerator, and I did not buy it.
When I questioned my husband about this mysterious carton of vanilla yogurt, he said he’d read an article about how healthy it is to eat yogurt. So even though I’ve been eating yogurt since we met about 10 years ago, he wasn’t convinced to try it until he read it in one of his magazines.
Anyway, I was not about to give him a hard time about it (at least not until now). I was just happy to hear that he was willing to try yogurt, because I have always loved it. But then I looked at the carton more closely and saw that it was a regular blended generic brand.
“I’ve got bad news for you,” I said. “This yogurt probably contains artificial sweetener.” I knew this because I figured out a long time ago that an inordinate number of yogurt varieties contain artificial sweetener. And there it was, buried in the middle of the ingredients: sucralose. If it isn’t sucralose, it’s aspartame. If it isn’t sweetened artificially, a carton of yogurt can contain upwards of 29 grams of sugar, which is more than twice the amount of sugar we’re supposed to consume in one snack.
A lot of folks have been looking for a better alternative, which might be one of the reasons Greek yogurt is so popular. Greek yogurt can provide double the amount of protein and half as much sugar as regular yogurt. Here’s more good info about why Greek yogurt is healthier.
At first, it might taste funny to someone used to eating regular Dannon or Yoplait because it is tangy and only lightly sweet, but you get used to it. Greek yogurt is so popular these days that it seems to have migrated from the organic dairy case at my grocery store to the main dairy case.
If you’d like to start eating yogurt but don’t want the artificial sweeteners and high sugar count, try the Greek yogurts with the little corner compartment filled with fruit. You can stir the fruit into the yogurt to jazz up the flavor. Some brands also come with corner compartments filled with granola or other crunchy goodies.
If you buy a lot of yogurt, you may have noticed there’s a new brand on Kroger shelves these days called Muller. Muller is popular in the U.K. but has only recently become available in the U.S. Their variety with fruit, granola or chocolate stir-ins is called Muller Corner. They also sell a Greek yogurt with stir-ins called Muller Greek Corner and a parfait-style yogurt with a “fruit mousse” on top called Muller FrutUp.
I tried the passion fruit-flavored FrutUp and the Muller Corner with malted rice candies, and both were terrific. However, we did notice a very odd ingredient listed on the FrutUp, and it wasn’t artificial sweetner. It was tilapia! Yes, tilapia in the yogurt! I asked a spokesperson for Muller why there’s fish in a perfectly delicious-tasting yogurt and she said it’s added for texture purposes. Odd, but I never would have known if it wasn’t listed on the label.
I made a sacrifice and ate Howard’s artificially sweetened yogurt because I hate to waste food. But then I bought him a blueberry-flavored Muller FrutUp. We’ll see what he thinks.
Do you eat a lot of yogurt? If so, do you do it because it’s healthy or because it’s delicious? What is your favorite brand and flavor?
August 9, 2012 - 5:35 AM
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I think the reason that so many yogurts are artificially sweetened is the same reason so many other foods are artificially sweetened. It’s the easy way to hook people into trying your food product. I don’t want to rant, but Americans in general – in general – have such a sugar addiction that people have almost lost the ability to appreciate savory flavors. It seems like everything has to have sweetener, or people won’t eat it.
I like Greek-style yogurts, just the plain ones. Fruit filled is fine, too, but I’m happy eating just yogurt, no add-ins.
You do present a good point, Lindsey. If you look at the back of a Dannon yogurt cup, you’d think you were eating candy.
Chobani plain greek yogurt is my absolute favorite! I use it in potatoes, burgers, shakes, chilli, with fresh fruit mixed in!
We eat a lot of yogurt in our house. I usually buy the large container of Fage 0%, and we mix fresh fruit, granola, &/or honey for breakfast. I like the Chobani yogurt with fruit on the bottom mixed with some Kashi or granola.
We also substitute greek yogurt in recipes that call for sour cream.
I would agree, Crooked Road. A lot of Americans, myself included, like sweet things. But I hate the taste of artificial sweetener and I avoid it at all costs. So when it seemed the only yogurt alternatives were fake sweetener or high sugar, I forced myself to make the change. Glad I did. Occasionally, a carton of peach fruit-on-the bottom is still a tasty dessert
We eat a lot of yogurt, usually Chobani Greek varieties. But I really like the Muller yogurt, both the FrutUp and the Corner.
The Corner with the chocolate bits is dessert-worthy.
I love Greek Yogurt! I switched from the regular stuff a couple years ago after hearing how much better the Greek kind was for you. And you are correct, Lindsey, it does take some time to get used to the tanginess, but I rather like it. And the thicker texture is nice too. Also, did you catch this piece on NPR about the various Greek yogurts that are artificially thickened? It made me check my containers much more carefully: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/19/156997600/high-tech-shortcut-to-greek-yogurt-leaves-purists-fuming
Plain Greek yogurt is full of protein as well as being multipurpose in the kitchen.I mix it with mashed garlic and herbs to make a great veggie dip.
I’m the only one here that eats yogurt, and I don’t eat it all that often. When I do eat it I do so b/c it’s delicious! I usually buy the fat free Yoplait w/ the fruit mixed in. Since I eat it only on occasion I don’t pay any attention to what they sweeten it with. My favorites are blueberry and raspberry. Wal-Mart used to carry one w/ mango and another fruit but I haven’t been able to find it there, or anywhere, for a while. I have more of a spice “addiction” than a sugar one. Not many meals go by w/o something spicy or spicy and hot included!
Lindsey, we agree completely about the nature of yogurt and its’ benefits.
The sugar addiction that has been ingrained into our palates over the last half century is really hard to break.
I have to laugh, cynically, when I pick up a bag of chips – which we all know are supposed to be salty – and see the ingredients favoring more sugar than salt. You could probably go through a grocery store buying everything that was not sweetened, and not be able to fill a shopping cart.
IIWII.
I started eating yogurt as a kid back in the Seventies, when that decade’s “health food moment” came around as it does every decade. These were the days when most yogurt was plain, or fruit-on-the-bottom. I still remember, as a kid, thinking that you had to eat your way through the sour yogurt to get to the fruit as some sort of reward for eating the healthy stuff.
Lately, I’ve been using Greek yogurt in my homemade tzatziki sauce, and as a surprisingly good foundation ingredient in a buttermilk remoulade I serve over fried chicken livers on a po’ boy.
Tzatziki is a wonderful substitute for mayo or mustard on many dishes. The number of dishes where it can be used seems endless.
After switching to Greek yogurt a few years ago, I cannot stomach stuff like Yoplait or Dannon. I don’t like the texture anymore, nor the cloying sweetness.
CR, there was a piece on this past Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes about the US’s sugar addiction. Did you happen to see it?
have you trued Brown Cow plain yogurt? It’s available at the natural foods co-op. Good healthy stuff.
I haven’t. Thanks for the recommendation, Tom.
I grew up eating yogurt. When I was young, my grandfather and then my mom used to make it at home. That’s why I’ve always like the greek better than the “regular” stuff. I was always used to the tanginess, and the thicker consistency. When the others became popular, they were way too sweet, and almost kind of slimey in texture.
I eat a lot of yogurt in the summer because it’s cool, sweet and easier to take to work than ice cream.
I like the Greek blueberry best, but any (other than coffee) will do.
Lori, I did watch the sugar addiction segment on 60 Minutes, as that topic is a particular concern of mine. I’ve been reading articles and watching videos on that for a few years now.
I’m still not going to rant, but I encourage everyone to look on the ingredients list of every food product they purchase, and see how highly the various forms of sugar rank. There’s sugar as a main ingredient in foods that were never intended to be sweet.
If a person ate fresh foods, natural foods that have no artificial supplements, they would receive all the sugars they need. The only purpose of the sweeteners is to hook customers into feeling addicted to the product. It’s insidious.
The Mueller website says that the tilapia is used to make the gelatin for the fruit mousse, so that it will be Kosher. I don’t have an issue with gelatin in mousse.
Jessica, and the rest of you who don’t seem to think fish in your yogurt is more than odd: I don’t have a problem with gelatin, I do have a problem with a bottom feeding fish that’s been proven to carry heavy metals and toxins in its flesh as an ingredient in my yogurt. Perhaps the Quaker Oatmeal co. should be less concerned about making yogurt froufrou-y with a fruit mousse, and stick with just plain fruit. If Muller is “European for yummy” I guess I’m just a simple gal with simple tastes.
I too just purchased the Mueller Yogurts with the fruit mousse wanting to try them…they look wonderful. What a shame that I didn’t read the ingredient list in the store because when I had them home, I happened to notice the name of a fish on the list on the container.
The problem is I am allergic to fish, and sure never thought of looking for this ingredient in a yogurt product for that matter.
Will I try to eat them? NO…..but I will return them to the store for my own safety.
But then I looked at the Dole Apple fruit crisp and though it contains no fish, it comes from Thailand. I guess the USA ran out of apples as well.
I bought my son a Muller Frutup yogurt because we watched Food, Inc about everything nowadays owned by a few huge food companies (european sounding name but “Quaker”). We looked at sugar content and other ingredients and I was shocked to see Tilapia – I too am very allergic to fish. Wonder if I’ve been sick because of other foods that contained gelatin made from FISH!