NPR recently released a story on the Greek yogurt identity crisis happening in our grocery aisles and shopping carts. With the help of cornstarch, agar agar and/or milk protein concentrate, imposters have started to invade our dairy shelves.
We’ve trusted the USDA and FDA to provide us with correct information on nutrition labels and assure that food is safe for our families. But with the current hyper focus on pink slime and ammonia-treated ground meat, we shouldn’t be surprised that money-saving methods for imitating a certain style of food and lying on the label is allowed to fly under the radar.
Is yogurt with cornstarch and milk protein concentrate safe for our families? Sure. Can it be called Greek yogurt? Sure, but it would be a lie. According to NPR, the FDA’s “standard of identity” for yogurt was formed 30 years ago. Slightly out of date. For companies like Chobani who religiously follow traditional methods of making pure Greek yogurt, the only good thing about 30 years ago is that the recipe they use for their product was still in use.
Does the imposter offer the same health benefits? Not a chance. Real Greek yogurt has about twice as much protein per 6 ounces as some short-cut brands. Does the imposter offer the same taste? As subjective a question as that is, from all that I’ve eaten, heard and read, the answer is no.
The most disturbing aspect of this is that Greek yogurt in its true form is a supremely healthy, simple, clean food. Milk protein concentrate does not sound like food to me. Do our bodies even respond to it? What do they recognize it as?
In the words of Alice Waters, author of The Art of Simple Food, “let things taste of what they are”.
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