It feels like the yogurt section gets bigger and bigger every year at the grocery store leading to a very overwhelming decision. There are many styles of yogurts these days, from Australian to Greek to Icelandic, and lots of them contain added sugar to make them more appealing to consumers. With more research telling us to reduce the amount of added sugar we consume to reduce our risks for chronic diseases, which one is best? I tasted and compared nutrition labels of several Greek yogurts doing my best to stick with berry flavored and non-fat where it was available as this seemed to be the most common purchased.
How do we know if a product has added sugar? The new nutrition label, which is slated to be released on all packaged food by January 2021, will have a subcategory under “total sugars” labeled “includes added sugars”. Until then, we are left to look for the hidden sugars in the ingredient list. When looking at the ingredient list, we look for keywords such as syrup, sugar, or nectar. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming no more than 10% of our daily calories. For someone who consumes 1600 calories per day, this would be approximately 40g per day. Where as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends no more than 5% to provide additional health benefits allowing 20g per day for a 1600 calorie diet.
All yogurts pictured above were compared against the Kroger brand non-fat plain Greek yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt has 6g of sugar according to the nutrition label. But as we know there are no added sweeteners or flavorings which allows us to assume there is no added sugar. Therefore, those 6g are natural sugars called lactose. Natural sugar comes in two forms: fructose (from fruit) and lactose (from dairy). When we are looking at reducing our sugar intake, our main focus is added sugars, which are “sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared” according to the USDA. Natural sugar is fine to consume as it contains other nutrients found in fruit and dairy considered to have more benefit to our overall health.
All Greek yogurts reviewed contain approximately 12-15g of protein, 100-130 calories, and non-fat (unless otherwise indicated) per 5.3 oz serving. Keep in mind, the taste of each yogurt is based on my own preference. You may find that you like a more tart yogurt than I do. So choose the one that works best for you.
Dannon Oikos Blueberry on the Bottom: This yogurt has a sweeter taste and has a lot of flavor from the blueberry you mix into the yogurt. It contains 15g of total sugar. With approximately 6g being natural sugar, we can estimate there is about 9g of added sugar in this product. Looking at the ingredient list, there is sugar in the fruit blend at the bottom, which is listed as the 2nd ingredient, and cane sugar is listed as the 3rd ingredient.
Yoplait Greek 100 Protein – Strawberry: This yogurt has a strong artificial sweetener taste and I was unable to eat more than half. In the ingredient list, sucralose is listed as the last ingredient which is an artificial sweetener. However, this allows the product to be very low in added sugars with only 1g coming from the fruit blend. This would be a great option for diabetics.
Safeway Open Nature – Strawberry: A very sweet yogurt and not tart at all. This product has the new nutrition label making it easier to determine the amount of added sugar: 13g. Therefore I would recommend choosing a different brand.
Fage Total – Cherry Pomegranate: Very tart. The fruit mixture is added in a pocket on the side allowing you to add the amount you want into the plain yogurt. However, even with all of the fruit blend added, it was still incredibly tart and not at all sweet. Despite this, there is still approximately 5g of added sugar in this yogurt.
Chobani Hint of Strawberry (2% milkfat): As far as taste goes, this one was my absolute favorite. When fat is removed from products, oftentimes companies will add sugar. This is true for foods like salad dressings and other sauces as well. That being said, this yogurt contains 9g of sugar making only 3g of that being added.
Chobani Fruit on the Bottom – Strawberry: Compared to its cousin above, this product tastes great as well but was much sweeter. This makes sense as the total sugar content is 15g.
Simple Truth Organic Fruit on the Bottom – Strawberry: This yogurt tastes very similar to me as the Chobani right above and was one of the highest for sugar content at 16g. Organic sugar is listed as the second ingredient meaning it has the second highest amount in this product.
Kroger Blended No Sugar Added Strawberry: This yogurt actually has no added sugar (hence the marketing on the front) giving it 6g of total sugar. However, it does not have ANY fruit in it, but only flavoring and since there is no sugar added, it has artificial sweeteners (stevia). As you can tell above, I’m not a fan of the taste when yogurt has artificial sweeteners added to them. So the taste on this one for me was poor. But again, everyone has a different taste preference. This would be a good alternative for diabetics.
There is no right or wrong brand of yogurt out there. Keep in mind you do still have an allowance of added sugar daily based on your caloric intake. It would otherwise be unrealistic to say we cannot have ANY added sugar at all (everything in moderation!). Make it work for your lifestyle because everyone’s is different!
Happy eating!
Note: Products and brands shown in this post do not endorse nor are endorsed by Colorado Nutrition Counseling, LLC. Statements in this article are of the author’s professional opinion and are for information purposes only.
The best Greek yogurts are plain, with only two ingredients on the label … whole milk/cream and probiotics. Just add your own fresh fruit … It’s as simple as that and you’ll never look back!