How to choose flavoured yoghurt

Flavoured yoghurt can be a snack or a treat, part of breakfast or added to smoothies. But is it good for us? Here’s how to choose the best type for you.

What’s available?

The array of flavours available in yoghurt is vast and delicious. There are also many varieties, such as traditional yoghurt, pourable, Greek, natural, organic, lactose free and full cream, plus non-dairy options such as soy and coconut yoghurt.

Saturated fat

Foods and drinks made from full-fat milk can be high in saturated fat, and consuming a lot can add much more saturated fat to your diet than is good for you. There is a strong link between diets high in saturated fats and heart disease. There is some evidence that the effect of saturated fat in yoghurt on heart health could be counterbalanced by the protein, calcium or some of the other components in it. But much more research is needed around this. For everyday use, we recommend choosing flavoured yoghurt with 1.3g or less saturated fat per 100g.

Gourmet yoghurts are usually higher in saturated fat, but we often use smaller amounts and as a substitution for products that are even higher in saturated fat, such as cream or ice cream. For a treat or dessert yoghurt we recommend choosing flavoured yoghurt with 3.5g or less saturated fat per 100g and using a small amount.

Sugars

Yoghurt contains lactose, the main sugar in milk. Many flavoured yoghurts also contain natural sugars from fruit as well as added or ‘free’ sugars, so some can get quite high in sugar. We recommend choosing flavoured yoghurt with 10g sugars or less per 100g.

Calcium

The recommended dietary intake for most adults is 1000mg per day, and for women over 50 and men over 70 years it is 1300mg. We recommend choosing flavoured yoghurt with 150mg calcium or more per 100g.

Energy

Some yoghurts can be higher in fats, therefore higher in kilojoules. Others may be higher in sugars which also up the kilojoules in the yoghurt. If you are watching your weight, we recommend choosing flavoured yoghurt with 400kJ or less per 100g.

Probiotics

Many yoghurts state they have probiotics, which is great. But to claim any benefit, there needs to be scientific evidence supporting this and confirmation that the yoghurt has been tested.

Coconut yoghurt

It may taste nice, but we don’t recommend coconut yoghurt or coconut-flavoured yoghurt as an everyday yoghurt because the saturated fat content is so high. For example, Zenzo coconut yoghurt has a whopping 21g saturated fat per 100g (which is less than half a cup). Based on an 8700kJ day, it’s recommended we have no more than 24g saturated fat each day.

How to choose

Use the criteria below to compare flavoured yoghurts:

Some healthier choices we found