For too many people, the word ‘yoghurt’ is an instant signifier for ‘health food’, despite the fact that what you add to the yoghurt can make a massive difference. A recent CHOICE study reminds us of this fact, suggesting that many major frozen yoghurt chains are making claims which potentially violate the Australian Consumer Law.
picture from Shutterstock
CHOICE investigated five chains (Mooberrry, WowCow, Yogurtland, Yogurberry and Zwirl) and discovered a range of iffy claims and dubious practices. Yogurberry sold an underweight cup of yoghurt to CHOICE’s researcher and displayed information using imperial rather than metric measures.
Many stores couldn’t provide nutritional information, even though this is a requirement if specific claims are made about a foodstuff. Again, Yogurberry was a highly visible offender here, making claims about digestive improvements, lowering coronary risk and slowing the ageing process despite not having sourced research to back those claims.
“Froyo might be tasty but it’s not a health food and it’s unlikely to give consumers the outlandish health benefits claimed by some stores, like slowing the body’s ageing process,” CHOICE food policy advisor Angela McDougall said in a statement announcing the research. “If you enjoy froyo, it’s important to think of it as a naughty treat like you would icecream, rather than some healthy alternative with magical properties.”
Or to put it another way: YOLO, so froyo should be a no-go.
Comments
7 responses to “Reminder: Frozen Yoghurt Is Not A Health Food”
“displayed information using metric rather than imperial measures”
What!? The scoundrels…!
Their anti-imperialist tactics must be halted. Activate the Froyo Death Star!
How can we judge intake if we don’t know how many kilojoules of energy there are to the 0.220462 pounds?
It’s like we’re living that Seinfeld froyo episode.
“The froghurt is also cursed!”
“That’s bad.”
“But you get your choice of topping.”
“That’s good.”
“The toppings contain potassium benzoate.”
“…”
“That’s bad.”
” displayed information using metric rather than imperial measures”
Confused. We converted to the metric system long ago. From Wikipedia:
“1977 – all packaged goods were labelled in metric units”.
It’s the other way round – Angus reported it incorrectly. The store showed nutritional information in imperial when it is a regulatory requirement here to show it in metric (it’s a US based chain).
This isn’t so good for the three countries in the World that still use the Imperial system.