The Dangers Of Eating Frozen Yogurt

When made right, frozen yogurt can be an amazing alternative to ice cream. And with the summer months fast approaching, I know my cravings for frozen low fat yogurt are going to sky rocket.

Many franchises have taken advantage of this food fad, promoting healthy probiotics and active cultures in their frozen yogurt products.

But just how “healthy” are these fast frozen yogurt joints?

Let’s Look at the Ingredients

The best place to start when trying to find out if something is indeed healthy or not is the ingredients list. This part of the labelling may have once glazed over our eyes, but with more knowledge under our belt, this has become the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Real frozen yogurt has 2 ingredients:

• Milk
• Cultures

Here’s what some popular frozen yogurts look like:

• Milk solids, processed milk product and/or milk fat
• Refined sweetener, such as dextrose
• Yogurt culture, commonly Lactobacillus bulgaricusand Streptococcus thermophilus
• Natural or artificial coloring
• Natural or artificial flavorings
• Trans fat
• Preservatives
• Stabilizers and thickeners like guar gum or carrageenan
• Other fillers such as cellulose gum (made from wood pulp)

All frozen yogurt franchises have also taken on the fast food mentality of “cheap and easy”. Instead of mixing the yogurt themselves, the mixtures arrive in a pre-made liquid or sometimes even a powder.

They are heavily processed and preserved and then frozen on-site to become the edible final product. You can even ask your local frozen yogurt franchise to see how their yogurt mix arrives. But beware, the sight but turn you off of frozen low fat yogurt forever.

Now Let’s Looks at the Brands

Pinkberry

In 2007, the LA Times conducted their own research to see if Pinkberry’s claim of probiotics and live cultures were true.

Not surprisingly for a big brand, they weren’t. In fact, Pinkberry frozen yogurt didn’t even contain enough active cultures to be called a “yogurt” according to California law.

Menchies

With their walls covered in photos of celebrities eating their product, Menchies is about as fake as Hollywood itself.

Instead of using real ingredients, Menchies uses artificial colorings and flavors, specifically in most of their vanilla flavored products.

TCBY

For me, it was shocking to hear that “The Country’s Best Yogurt” actually contains propylene glycol.

This chemical compound is most famously known for being in anti-freeze.

Red Mango

The ingredients might decent on many Red Mango products, but on a close second look you’ll find the words “natural flavors”. Yet, their “Caribbean Coconut” flavor has no coconuts present.

So where are these “natural flavors” coming from? Unfortunately, they’re still made in a lab, and as long as it’s created from something “natural” on earth, brands can get away with calling it a “natural flavor”. Even if it’s coming from a Beavers’ anal glands – which surprising, tastes like strawberry.

Sources:

http://foodbabe.com/2013/06/12/frozen-yogurt-gone-bad/
http://www.ehow.com/list_6962663_foods-drinks-propylene-glycol.html

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