I like yogurt. I like flavored yogurts. I make dips and sauces out of yogurt. So when I saw a new yogurt appear on the supermarket shelf, I thought, hmmm, sounds good. No sugar. 12 grams of protein. Strawberries. What's not to like? It turns out there's a great deal NOT to like. If you want to cheat and go directly to the "taste-off" section, click here. But I urge you to read all the background stuff since the info may surprise you.
Chobani Zero Sugar
The ingredients:
First, the "all natural" ingredients in Chobani Zero Sugar:
Ultra-filtered nonfat milk**, water, skim milk†, allulose†, contains 2% or less of: natural flavors, tapioca flour, citrus fiber, sea salt, guar gum, stevia leaf extract (reb m), vegetable juice concentrate (for color)†, monk fruit extract, cultures. **Ingredient not found in regular yogurt. †Includes a dietarily insignificant amount of sugar.
The sweeteners:
We'll start with allulose also known as D-psicose. It's classified as a "rare" sugar found in figs, molasses and wheat. Rare because it's not commonly found in the usual sugary places like most fruits, root vegetables, sugar cane and saps. It is about 70% as sweet as real sugar but your body doesn't metabolize it so it can be helpful for those with insulin issues or simply not wanting additional sugar. There may also be some health benefits in reducing fatty liver, inflammation and obesity. However, the studies are small and very preliminary. Allulose is NOT approved for use as a food additive in Europe (EU). So eaters beware. For more on allulose, see this article on Healthline.
Next up is stevia leaf extract. The Reb M designation (rebaudioside M) is interesting because it's a relatively new variant of stevia concentrate that supposedly has less of an aftertaste than the more common Reb A variant. There are health concerns about stevia concentrates because they can interfere with gut health and digestion. Reb M is about 200x as sweet as sugar ounce per ounce.
Finally we have monk fruit extract. This stuff is good. No complaints or warnings from me. It's about 200x as sweet as sugar but it's usually combined with sugar alcohols (inulin or erythritol) when sold as a sugar substitute. The extract by itself is a powerful sweetener from a completely chemical structure than most sugar substitutes.
So here's my question. Why does Chobani need 3 completely different sweeteners (not to mention the strawberries) in its yogurt? I have a hard time believing that, at the minute concentrations of these sugar substitutes, they can really dial in the perfect sweetness. More on this later.
Other ingredients:
Nothing unusual about the other ingredients except for the "ultra-filtered" nonfat milk, tapioca flour, citrus fiber, natural flavors and guar gum. Do you detect some sarcasm here? Yep. It's because these aren't typically found in yogurts. Guar gum is an exception since many manufacturers use it as a thickener. Natural flavors is a catchall for lots of things that may or may not be natural. Finally the "ultra-filtered" nonfat milk is another way of saying "we removed the lactose and fat and things that make milk, milk" which may be ok if you are lactose intolerant.
So what's missing? Even though they're all over the package, there are NO actual strawberries in the Chobani yogurt. In fine print you'll see it's "Strawberry Flavored".
Nutrition label:
Protein good, net carbs are actually lower due to allulose.
Wally World "Great Value Light Greek Yogurt"
The ingredients:
Cultured pasteurized skim milk, strawberries, modified food starch, natural flavors, malic acid, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and fruit and vegetable juice concentrate (color).
The sweeteners:
First up is acesulfame potassium. It's a synthetic sweetener that's about 200x sweeter than sugar and has a slightly bitter aftertaste. The bitter aftertaste is why it's seldom found alone in products but is combined with other sweeteners. It has been studied extensively and is generally considered safe by the FDA and by the EU. Next up is sucralose aka Splenda®. It's about 600x as sweet as sugar but because its chemical makeup is close to that of sucrose, it tastes pretty much just like sugar. Sucralose is often used as a standalone sweetener in many product. It was originally patented in 1976 however the only remaining patents cover manufacturing processes. This still makes it more expensive to use by itself so it's often combined with other sweeteners such as acesulfame potassium. Sucralose is generally considered safe by the FDA, EU and most other major national regulatory agencies.
The other ingredients
Modified food starch is used as a thickener. Yes, it's pretty much the same as the "corn starch" in your pantry although the source could be from other grains. Not scary and present in a lot of food products. Malic acid is a natural acid found in many fruits and berries such as apples, pears, blueberries and grapes. It's commonly used to add tartness to a wide range of products but if you really want to taste it on steroids, buy any bag of "salt & vinegar" chips. It's what gives the chips the "vinegar" taste.
Nutrition label:
Sugar is not zero (6 grams) and probably comes from the lactose in the milk and natural sweetness of the strawberries. Protein is slightly higher than Chobani and there are 20 more calories.
It comes down to taste
You could tell where this is going, right? Surprise surprise. The inexpensive Great Value yogurt is much better tasting with a much smoother texture than the Chobani. For all of its "natural" ingredients, the Chobani tastes artificial with a sickly sweet flavor. The texture is also very "chalky" or grainy. The Great Value yogurt, on the other hand, tastes like real strawberries and isn't nearly as over-sweetened. And, while not as creamy as most full fat yogurts, it's very smooth. When you compare prices, the GV is about $0.64 per serving while the Chobani is 3x as much at $1.80 per serving.
