Consumer Report!

I just had a disappointing experience with a product and I feel the need to warn the masses!  (For the record, my husband thinks I'm a total dork for writing a post about this.  And I know it is silly.  But I'm passionate about good food and knowing the truth about what we eat, so here you go!)

I adore yogurt.  You might even call me a yogurt connoisseur.  I eat yogurt almost daily, and if you've ever noticed the wide assortment of yogurts at a fancy grocery like Whole Foods, you'd better believe I've tried them all.  Even the goat milk yogurt and Icelandic yogurt, which--if you were wondering--are both fantastic.

In the past few years, I've gradually weaned my taste buds off of the processed, flavored yogurts that are loaded with sugar and other chemical junk.  I now eat mostly plain yogurt, sweetened with a bit of honey and usually eaten with fruit.  In particular, I love Stoneyfield Farms organic plain lowfat yogurt and Fage 2% Greek yogurt.  What starts out as unbearably tart quickly becomes delicious, and the next thing you know the average cup of Yoplait tastes like total junk.  And don't even get me started on the "Light" sugar free stuff!

But last week I clipped a coupon; Yoplait is marketing a new Greek Yogurt line, and I figured I would give it a whirl.

Not 30 minutes ago, I sat down to enjoy my cup of blueberry Yoplait Greek Yogurt.

It. Was. Disgusting.  The taste was cloyingly fake, but what was worse was the texture.  It was NOT Greek yogurt, but gelatinous goo that can only be compared to a cross between a Jello snack pack and the Nickelodeon "Gak" that was sold when I was in elementary school.

I flipped the container around for a little insight into what the heck they did to make this yogurt so bad.  And there, hidden on the ingredient list, was a prime example of the tap dance that is American corporate marketing.

Gelatin.  Corn Starch.  Powdered Protein Concentrate.

Here's the deal: Greek yogurt is strained.  Once all the excess water is removed, you are left with a super thick, smooth, incredibly high protein yogurt.  This is also why it is more expensive; they are using more milk to yield a smaller amount of prodcut.  (You can actually make your own, which I do on occasion, but that is another post!).

So the sneaky Yoplait people took their cheapo regular yogurt, added gelatin and corn starch to thicken it up, and then added protein powder to fake the high protein content.  Slap "Greek" on the label, along with a "2x the Protein!" brag tag, and you've got 'em fooled!

But you can't pull a fast one on me, Yoplait!

Anywho...not a huge deal in the grand scheme of life, but I was annoyed and thought I'd save you lovely people some money and disappointment by letting you know.  Yes, it is cheaper than Stoneyfield or Fage, but sometimes cheap is cheap, you know?