Do you love fruit yogurts? Be careful to choose them carefully. According to the magazine 60 million consumers, one yogurt in particular should be avoided.
In its April-May 2024 special issue, the magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs highlights the worrying compositions of certain fruit yogurts, marketed by food industry giants. Among them, one product stands out for its high content of sweetening additives, linked to an increased risk of cancer.
Yogurts: the reference to no longer buy, according to 60 Million consumers
If many flavored yogurts contain synthetic flavors, preservatives and other problematic sweeteners, a specific product should no longer be purchased.
This is the 0% fat Light & Free strawberry yogurt from the Danone brand, says the magazine.
Indeed, this reference presents “strawberries, of course, but also cosmetic ingredients for color and above all two very problematic sweetening additives“, underlines the consumer association.
This strawberry flavored product also includes the following statement “Strawberries 7.5%, aroma”. Which means that it contains “natural” strawberries but also “artificial” strawberries.
“A flavor is added, without mention, therefore artificial“, specifies the magazine.
Another worrying mention in the list of ingredients: “black carrot concentrate”.
This black carrot puree “strengthens and evens out the strawberry color” but also accentuates “the impression of eating strawberries“, says the consumers' association.
Sweeteners: increased risk of cancer
Finally, two non-calorie (zero calorie) synthetic sweeteners criticized by Inserm are in the sights of the magazine's experts: acesulfame-K and sucralose, respectively 200 and 600 times sweeter than sucrose.
And for good reason: these, used to sweeten yogurts, represent an increased risk factor for cancer.
“Compared to non-consumers, people who consumed the most sweeteners, particularly aspartame and acesulfame-K, had a higher risk of developing cancer, all types of cancer combined.“, affirmed researchers from Inserm, INRAE, Sorbonne Paris Nord University and Cnam, who had led a large-scale prospective study on the subject.
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