Few Yogurt Products Qualify As Low-Sugar

THURSDAY, Sept. 20, 2018 (HealthDay News) — There is considerable variability in the sugar content of yogurts, with very few yogurts qualifying as low-sugar, according to a study published in the August issue of BMJ Open.

J. Bernadette Moore, Ph.D., from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional survey of yogurt products available in five major online U.K. supermarkets in November 2016. Yogurts were classified into eight categories; product information for 921 unique products was used to create a comprehensive database which was then analyzed.

The researchers found that across categories there was high variability in the total sugar, fat, protein, calcium, and energy contents; the ranges were very broad. The medians of the total sugar content of children’s, fruit, flavored, and organic yogurts were all above 10 g/100 g (10.8, 11.9, 12, and 13.1 g/100 g, respectively), which was lower than in the dessert category but represented more than 45 percent of the total energy. Two of 101 children’s yogurt and fromage frais products had ≤5 g/100 g and therefore qualified as low-sugar. Compared with other categories, natural/Greek yogurts had low-sugar contents (5 g/100 g). Low-fat products had less sugar and energy than higher-fat products, but 55 percent contained 10 to 20 g sugar/100 g.

“We conclude not all yogurts are as healthy as perhaps consumers perceive them and reformulation for the reduction of free sugars is warranted,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text