Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Another unclear food label - live cultures in yoghurt.

203 replies

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 06:50

I have just discovered the bit on the yoghurt pot I was eating from that says "live cultures" and it is tiny.

Ok, it IS there, but it is very small, and I am dyslexic. I did check in the shop before picking it up, but I didn't see it.

I now have to contact my cancer nurse arrange a telephone conversation. Not that there is anything she can do now, I have eaten it.

I am going to contact the manufacturer and complain. Particularly on the grounds that a lot of people undergoing chemo are going to have temporary eyesight problems. But obviously, this is dangerous to other people too, not just cancer patients.

I think food with a content that poses a significant danger to a significant proportion of the population should have that warning written in a standard colour, so it is easy to skim the package standing in the super market isle, and find that warning.

There should be a list of ingredients that have to be printed in bright orange, or something, so that if you are scanning for a particular ingredient, and you don't see any bright orange, you know it isn't there.

Of course people who are severely colour blind might have to get someone else to scan for them, but that would solve this issue for most people most of the time, wouldn't it?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:21

but anyway, I dont know why people have the idea that the bacteria have made the yoghurt - the yoghurt is pasturised, and bacteria added after.

And if it isn't pasturised, then you have a whole host of other dangers to worry about

OP posts:
HunterHearstHelmsley · 27/04/2024 07:21

What yoghurt is it @awayandaway ?

DeleteIfNotAloud · 27/04/2024 07:22

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:19

doesn't mean it should be live in the finished product, like bread is made from yeast, but it isn't live in the finished product!

Yoghurt isn't bread though. Bread is baked at high temperatures which kills off the yeast.

Do you even know what yoghurt is?

RecruitmentGuru · 27/04/2024 07:22

Also if the yogurt isn’t labelled live cultures it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have them. You literally cannot have yogurt without live cultures!

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:22

yes, of course I know what yoghurt is

OP posts:
MultiplaLight · 27/04/2024 07:22

Bread is baked to kill the yeast.
Young children can have live yoghurt.

Are you confused with pro biotic?

VestibuleVirgin · 27/04/2024 07:23

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:18

It isn't miniscule at all! all young children, for example- hardly a "miniscule" group!

Please provide the link to nhs guidance that states children cannot have such yoghurt. I cannot find any research stating this, but I haven't had time to do a full search. I am sure you must have this info to hand...

MyFirstLittlePony · 27/04/2024 07:23

I think you are confused what live cultures are

And are confusing it with pasteurised and unpasteurised food

I think there is a whole tangle of confusion

I am confused now too

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:24

I have had two separate gastroenterologists speak to be about this specific issue, in the last 10 years. One did say well, stomach acid kills it, so it is unlikely to do anyone much harm. The other said don't risk it ever, just in case.

OP posts:
RecruitmentGuru · 27/04/2024 07:24

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:21

but anyway, I dont know why people have the idea that the bacteria have made the yoghurt - the yoghurt is pasturised, and bacteria added after.

And if it isn't pasturised, then you have a whole host of other dangers to worry about

@awayandaway ALL yogurt has live cultures you can’t have yogurt without it BUT some yogurts may have added probiotics after it’s made. You will be fine I’m sure of it.

Shelinaa · 27/04/2024 07:25

Fancy giving us a sensible source for the idea that young children shouldn’t eat yoghurt?

DeleteIfNotAloud · 27/04/2024 07:25

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:22

yes, of course I know what yoghurt is

Well no, you obviously don't, if you are shocked to find out it all contains live cultures Hmm

MultiplaLight · 27/04/2024 07:26

Yogurt (UK: /ˈjɒɡərt/; US: /ˈjoʊɡərt/,[1] from Ottoman Turkish: یوغورت, romanized: yoğurt;[a] also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt

Yogurt - Wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt

RecruitmentGuru · 27/04/2024 07:26

Also yogurt is 100% fine for kids! It’s amazing for their gut health.

greengreyblue · 27/04/2024 07:26

I always struggle to find one with live bacteria as most don’t or have very few. I agree, it should be clearer. Food labels are minuscule and when it comes to safety around allergies, it really isn’t good enough.

SudExpress · 27/04/2024 07:26

awayandaway · 27/04/2024 07:17

well no, it is not actively advised, at all, it is just considered safe as the stomach acid kills it anyway,

It isn't an allergen, it is a product containing live bacteria

Yes, I know what it is.

It is recommended as a healthy food for patients on chemo/recovering from chemo.
With the caveat that (as with any probiotic) it can cause nausea/sickness and stomach upsets in some people- exactly the same as too many probiotics might for any person, irrespective of any pathology)

A probiotic is good bacteria. It's still bacteria. Which in an immuno-compromised person may cause stomach upsets.

I used the word allergen to distinguish between the labelling legalities.

BoobsOnTheMoon · 27/04/2024 07:26

Was it bison milk yoghurt?

BaronessEllarawrosaurus · 27/04/2024 07:27

Pasteurized just means the milk was pasteurized before the yoghurt was made so has no effect on the live cultures.

Bread is baked which kills off the yeast yoghurt isn't.

NannyR · 27/04/2024 07:27

The majority of yogurts sold in the UK are 'live' yogurts - this means that they contain live bacteria when they are sold and up to the use by date. Rather confusingly the label 'live' on a yogurt usually refers to the fact that one of the new types of bacteria has been added (a 'bio' yogurt).

This is from the Waitrose website. Bacteria are the thing that turns milk into yoghurt - if yoghurt didn't contain bacteria it would just be a pot of milk.

LeavesOnTrees · 27/04/2024 07:29

Sorry to hear about your health issues. Maybe you should be avoiding all yoghurt.

Small children are definitely fine to eat yoghurt.
It's good to eat it if on antibiotics for gut health.

MumMumMumMumMumMumMum · 27/04/2024 07:30

Since when can children not eat yoghurt?!

EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness · 27/04/2024 07:30

The milk is pasteurised not the yoghurt. Bacteria is added to the pasteurised milk to make yoghurt. If you need to avoid things like acidophilus and bifidus bacteria then dont eat yoghurt. Its really simple. The bacertia themselves in the form of probiotic tablets with much higher numbers of bacteria are sold for use by young children as well as adults and some doctors and pharmacists will advise a course of probiotics after a course if antibiotics as the later can kill friendly as well as harmful bacteria. If you specifically have been advised to avoid these bacteria strains then you should not be eating yoghurt at all.

saraclara · 27/04/2024 07:30

DeleteIfNotAloud · 27/04/2024 07:25

Well no, you obviously don't, if you are shocked to find out it all contains live cultures Hmm

To be strictly fair to OP, not all yogurt has live culture remaining at the point of sale. Some of it is heat treated. Those on a neutropenic diet will choose to eat those brands.

However she's wrong about most yogurts (and most are live) being a risk to young children.

PotatoPudding · 27/04/2024 07:32

The label is clear. As it’s not an allergen, which can be life threatening, it doesn’t need to be in bold.

It’s reasonable that people with certain health conditions and those on certain medications do their own research and read the fine print. Food manufacturers simply can’t cater to everyone.

I am genuinely sorry you are undergoing chemo, but you are not in a large percentage of the population.

Swipe left for the next trending thread