The Better Homemaking Network

Yoplait has long been my favorite yogurt. It has a creamy texture, uses real fruit, and doesn’t load up with artificial sweeteners or other funky ingredients. (At least the regular variety doesn’t.) It also isn’t heat treated after the cultures are developed; I think that attributes to the flavor, too. Although I like the active yogurt cultures in regular Yoplait (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) I’ve wanted to hedge my bets with different bacteria. When they came out with the YoPlus line (with Bifidobacterium) I was excited to try it.

I had been trying Dannon Activia yogurt, which has the same Bifidobacterium culture; they just give it the fancy name Bifidus Regularis, which honestly makes me feel the company takes its customers for idiots. Apparently it worked, though; Dannon’s sales of Activia and Danactive soared to three times the expected projections. But I digress; that is the subject of a future review!

Armed with a fistful of coupons, I picked up eight packs of Yo-Plus yogurt at a substantial savings. The flavors are fantastic; Yoplait has always been great on using real fruit and creating tasty combinations. The whole family loves them; we usually eat yogurt every day.

We all started to experience some stomach pain. Even my one-year-old was in distress. We honestly couldn’t figure it out and didn’t attribute it to the yogurt until three days later. We have many food allergies and have learned from experience that it is best to re-read ingredient labels every time you purchase a product, as well as when we get ready to eat it (in case we missed something). What I hadn’t noticed before was the fiber added to the yogurt, called inulin. Our family is on a carefully moderated food plan and we get a good amount of fiber in our diet already. The extra fiber shouldn’t be an issue; but apparently the type of fiber is.

On the package itself it states that inulin wasn’t normally found in yogurt. I’ve recently dug a little bit deeper and found some disturbing facts:

Inulin feeds bad bacteria in your intestinal tract (which are normally inactive and fine) as well as the good bacteria. Depending on what is present in your system, it can cause a lot of problems when you consume too much in a super-refined form!

Inulin is found to cause mild to severe gastrointestinal issues in people depending on the amount consumed.

Inulin is yet another super-refined food substance like high fructose corn syrup. We’ve found that HFCS is linked to all sorts of health problems, as are many other naturally-occurring food substances that have since been refined down to chemical additives. Inulin is naturally found in onions and garlic and is good for you when you get it in whole foods and in reasonable amounts. We get plenty of it every day in our house already!

Yo-Plus could have been a great product had they not tried to boost sales with additives and claims on how this could “naturally boost your digestive health”. I’m sure they were lured in by Dannon’s success; now they are following in their footsteps with their own class-action lawsuit against false advertising. (Dannon has already settled theirs for $35 million, the biggest settlement ever to be made over false advertising of food products.)

I think that companies should quit messing with the food! I eat yogurt because I want milk and good bacteria in my system, and like the taste of fresh fruit added to it. Don’t add a bunch of sweeteners (milk and fruit both are naturally sweet), don’t add artificial flavors (what is wrong with just using the fruit?), and definitely don’t add stuff that supposedly makes up for my supposed diet deficiencies! Don’t add fiber to my yogurt, calcium to my juice, nor artificial sweeteners to my non-diet gum that has REGULAR sugar in it. (Surprise! Take at look at those the next time you’re in the checkout lane!) And, for the love of people who hit the top two allergens in the country, QUIT adding soy products to absolutely everything! (Another thing that you find in all that gum!)

Yogurt IS good for you. It is on the Better Homemaking Network’s Top Foods List (article coming soon). Plain with active cultures is best, of course; if you get fruit flavors, try to avoid artificial sweeteners or flavors and a lot of added sugar. Our family will be going back to making our own yogurt, mixing in fresh fruit purees. We still like regular Yoplait, and Dannon Activia, although it is a bit too sweet. We often mix in some homemade plain yogurt and they taste even better. Greek yogurt is the yummiest way to buy a plain variety, although it is a bit more expensive. It also makes a great starter to make your own!

The bottom line: Enjoy your yogurt, and get your fiber from the real thing; in other words, other healthy choices throughout the day. Fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains are all great sources.

I don’t even feel comfortable in giving the rest of this Yo-Plus away. No matter that I got it on the cheap; it burns me to have to waste food regardless of the reason or cost. But the best place for it is in the trash.

ETA:  Yoplait Fiber One yogurt also has inulin added to it.

Sources: Law Firm That Won Dannon Settlement Targets Yoplait

Inulin: Friend or Foe?

Yo-Plus for Digestive Health