Yogurt - A Compositional Survey in the Greater Lansing Area ¹

Prompted by numerous consumer inquiries and several reports in the literature, this survey was undertaken to monitor the composition of yogurt in the mid-Michigan market. Forty-seven samples representing six brands were analyzed. Mean values ± standard deviation for the content of protein (Kjeldahl), fat (Mojonnier) and total solids (Mojonnier), pH and net weights were measured. The data are presented by product category, i.e. low-fat flavored, low-fat plain, full-fat flavored, full-fat plain, and cumulated for all samples. Wide variations in chemical composition were observed between and within brands surveyed. Mean values for all flavored samples surveyed (N = 42) were 4.34% protein, 2.34% fat, 25.88% total solids and 4.01 pH. Corresponding values for all plain samples surveyed were 5.68, 2.86, 16.90 and 4.23, respectively. The data show that 25% of all samples analyzed were greater than 6.6% overweight while 10.6% of the yogurts surveyed weighed less than the declared container net weight. Caloric values for flavored yogurts ranged widely. Mean caloric values for flavored, low-fat and full-fat brands were 106 and 121 cal/100 g, respectively. In general, the results indicate that commercial yogurt would benefit from closer composition control.