Abstract
The UK government has called for industry reformulation of foods that contribute most to sugar consumption in children’s diets, including yogurts. The aim of this work was to comprehensively survey yogurt products available in UK supermarkets in 2019 to determine whether sugar contents had been reduced since our baseline survey in 2016. Product information was collected for 893 unique yogurt, fromage frais and dairy dessert products, and nutrient contents were analysed in comparison to those previously examined. Examining all products, there was a highly significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in the median total sugar contents in 2019 compared to those in 2016: median (interquartile range): 10.4 g/100 g (6.6, 13.0) versus 11.9 g/100 (8.8, 13.6). However, notable product turnover was evident; while 60% of the 2019 products surveyed could be matched by brand and name to 2016, 40% were new. In scrutinising paired products closely, only 32% (173 of 539) had reduced sugar contents with a smaller mean difference of −0.65 g/100 g (p < 0.0001), suggesting that the overall median had dropped as a result of higher sugar products being discontinued. Categories showing the most improvements were children’s, drinks and fruit yogurts. Although only 15% of the 2019 products contained ≤5 g/100 g sugars, considered a ‘low-sugar’ product for labelling, this was an improvement over the 9% identified in 2016. Our results yield important insights into current market trends and demonstrate that the median sugar content of UK yogurt products has been reduced by 13% in two years. These data independently evidence modest, but encouraging changes in response to public policy initiatives aimed at preventing childhood obesity.
Highlights
Yogurt is a fermented milk product and nutrient-dense food with its unique food matrix influencing the bioavailability of nutrients
While the median total sugar contents of all organic products had come down significantly since 2016 (10.8 versus 13.1 g/100 g in 2016), in examining the sub-categories within the organic products, e.g., fruit and natural/Greek products, we show that their median sugar contents were higher than those of their non-organic category equivalents
The continuity between the method carried out in the previous study is a significant strength, resulting in an informative assessment of reductions made in the sugar contents of yogurt products in the UK market over time. In this comprehensive survey of the UK yogurt market, we demonstrate that the median sugar contents of all yogurt products available has been reduced since our 2016 survey
Summary
Yogurt is a fermented milk product and nutrient-dense food with its unique food matrix influencing the bioavailability of nutrients. It is an digestible source of protein and multiple essential micronutrients including calcium and vitamin B12 [1]. The final nutrient composition of yogurt will depend on the type of milk used and the ingredients added during production, which often include additional sugars and other sweetening agents [3]. As yogurt is a commonly recommended and consumed food in childhood, sweetened yogurts are a significant source of free sugars (see Table 1 for definitions of free, added, and total sugars) for children in many countries [4,5]. Current expert consensus is that children under two should consume no Nutrients 2020, 12, 171; doi:10.3390/nu12010171 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients
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