All Yogurt is not created equal.  Because of that, it’s important to read labels.  In fact, reading labels may be one of the only reliable ways to ensure that you’re getting truthful information.  Recent lawsuits around false advertising have shown that you can’t rely on manufacturers to tell the truth if they can bend the laws and lie – even about something as simple and fundamentally healthy as yogurt.

Yogurt is a great source of probiotics, the friendly bacteria that reside in the gastrointestinal tract.  According to Dr. Bernard Jensen, author of Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Better Bowel Care, there are 3 primary types of probiotics:

1. Lactobacillus acidophilus which guards the large intestine
2. Lactobacillus bifidus, also known as bifidobacterium, which protects the small intestine
3. Lactobacillus bulgaricus, which travels through the entire digestive system and gives the other two a helping hand.

Probiotics support bowel health.  That’s one of the main reasons it’s especially important to have yogurt after being on a program of antibiotics.  The antibiotics kill all the bacteria in the intestines, both the good AND the bad.  Probiotics replace the good bacteria.

The good news is that there are more and more yogurts available that have healthy ingredients.  The only way to know is, as I said, to read the labels.  The bad news is that many of the most popular yogurts – Colombo Classic (Vanilla), Bryers YoCrunch (Raspberry), and Yoplait Original (Harvest Peach), to name just a few – contain HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and modified corn starch, two very nasty, allergy-exacerbating ingredients to seriously avoid taking in at all.  And, unfortunately, they seem to be in everything!  Even in the Greek Style Yogurt from Cabot of Vermont (honey), you’ll find modified corn starch!

What really got me going, however, was this new marketing campaign by Dannon.  Dannon’s marketing hype is for Activia:  They claim that it’s the “only” yogurt that contains “bifidus regularis”.  It turns out that this seems to be a name they made up for bifidobacterium, then trade marked the made up name only for advertising purposes.  It further claims that Activia “has been clinically proven to help naturally strengthen the body’s defenses when consumed daily”.  That would be true of any yogurt that contained sufficient probiotics (including bifidobacerium).

Blessedly, more and more people are paying attention.  There was a class action suit issued against Dannon in January 2008.  YAAAAY FOR AWAKE, LABEL-READING, RESEARCH-DOING CONSUMERS!  The suit, issued against Dannon Co. Inc. by a group from California, calls them to the carpet for mounting a massive false advertising campaign to convince consumers to pay more for their yogurt.  It appears that Dannon has reached a tentative nationwide settlement contingent upon that if Activia doesn’t help naturally regulate your digestive system after two weeks of daily use, they’ll refund your money.  It seems to me that the point is still missed.

There are MANY brands of excellent, healthy yogurt.  Whole Foods Markets have a HUGE selection of healthy choices.  Brown Cow is an excellent organic brand, for example.  The best way to have yogurt is to have it plain, of course, because there are no sweeteners in the plain version.  However, if you love chocolate like I do, read the labels so that you can satisfy your sweet tooth in a HEALTHY way.  One of the reasons I recommend Brown Cow as a healthier choice, for example, is because it uses evaporated cane juice and fruit juice (pineapple, peach, pear, apples) as sweeteners.  There is NO high fructose corn syrup.

Yogurt is great for you, on general principle.  You just have to make sure that the one you pick is actually made to be HEALTHY.  And the best way to do THAT, is to apply your healthy practice of reading labels to yogurt labels, as well.  The marketing people are getting slicker by the day, so stay on your toes and healthy, yummy eating will stay easy and fun!