[ 4 ] March 21, 2011 |

Fruit yogurts

Yogurts, known from ancient times, are dairy products resulting from bacterial fermentation of milk. They are popular among all categories of the population from babies to senior citizens. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, yogurt is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. It has additional nutritional benefits beyond those of milk. People who are moderately lactose-intolerant can consume yoghurt without ill effects, because much of the lactose in the milk precursor is converted to lactic acid by the bacterial culture.

Great Value Strawberry Banana low fat yogurt

Stonyfield Strawberry Banana whole milk yogurt






Now let us look at the differences between two brands available nationwide at Walmart stores; Great Value Strawberry Banana low fat yogurt and Stonyfield Strawberry Banana whole milk yogurt.

Great Value yogurt Risk Diagram, DDRS ~ 65

Most of the health risk comes from 6 benign and 11 nutritional additives which contribute with 55 units. A single foreign additive, azo-dye Red 40 contributes 10 units by itself.  I would like to remind you here that based on the DyeDiet definition, foreign additives are those of no use and potentially disruptive for human bio-chemistry, whereas benign are of some use.  In this context, the DyeDiet Foreign Additive Risk Impact  or “foreign impact”(DDFI) is a measure of how much health risk comes with foreign additives relative to nutrients. So Great Value yogurt DDFI is 10/33 = 0.30. 

Great Value Yogurt Risk Score Diagram

As in the case with the Walmart baked goods I cannot get rid of the question: Why degrade the overall nutritional value of a product by addition of a questionable (at the very least!) foreign chemical?? Who benefits? Not a consumer, for sure. Some variations of the Great Value Strawberry Banana yogurt comes with carmine which is a slightly better option than Red 40 but it may cause severe allergies in some people.

Carrageenan is another questionable additive. While it is a low risk benign polysaccharide additive, there are some related health concerns; enough so that it is NOT recommended in infant food. Fructose may help cancers to proliferate as was demonstrated in a recent study.

Stonyfield yogurt Risk Diagram, DDRS ~ 44

There are no artificial food colors and foreign additives added to the Stonyfield yogurts. Why? Because the manufacturer practices a quite different philosophy.

Stonyfield yogurt Risk DiagramThe low risk comes from 3 benign and 13 nutritional additives. They have used Organic Beets juice as color which is also a known anti-oxidant. This yogurt DDFI is 0/44 = 0.

Great Value vs Stonyfield yogurt comparison chart

Additives and Nutrients Great Value strawberry banana low fat yogurt Stonyfield strawberry banana whole milk yogurt
Colors added Red 40 Beet Juice concentrate
Calories per 6 OZ (170 g) 150 165 (a
Fat, weight % 0.9 3.5
Sugars, weight % 15 12
Walmart price per 1 LB $1.00 (b $2.28
DyeDiet Risk Score  (DDRS)


DyeDiet Foreign Impact (DDFI)

10/33  = 0.3


Recommendation NOT really Yes

(a) Recalculated from the original 4 OZ (113 g) serving size. b) Recalculated from the original price of $1.50 for 1.5 LB.

From the above data while Great Value yogurt is half the price of Stonyfield, it has a couple of potentially harmful additives even if eaten in moderation, especially, the Red 40.  Stonyfield yogurt has a natural level of fat whereas carrageenan thickener added into low fat Great Value yogurt is used to compensate a loss in the texture.

The DyeDiet Risk Score Labels

I hope health risk labels like these would help:

DyeDiet Risk Score labels

In conclusion, you decide if higher health risks are worth going with the more economical low fat Great Value yogurt. The DyeDiet concept is to avoid any foreign additives, eat in moderation and exercise to burn extra fat. But the freedom of choice is always yours!

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Category: Dairy products

Comments (4)

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  1. Akhee Sarker-Nag says:

    Hi, Nick,
    Are thinking to write about ice-creams? I will wait for a post about ice-creams. I like to read your posts so much. Thank you for making us alert :)

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