Healthiest yoghurts for toddlers?

[rubbishmum33]

Can anyone recommend some healthy yoghurt options for toddlers? My son is 18 months and loves Petits Filous. I know natural Greek yoghurt is ideal but he won't touch it - the tangy flavour is quite an acquired taste I suppose.

Are Petits Filous OK or are there other yoghurts out there that are low in sugar and better for toddlers?

Maybe make a really thick smoothie with yoghurt and banana? I like this and you can add some honey or apple/grape for sweetness.

@canyoutoleratethis I'm interested to know what in that list you're not keen on? For some reason I've always avoided low-sugar yoghurts - I think I once heard on the radio that ow- and sugar-free stuff was full of unpleasant stuff, and internalised it quickly! - but looking at that list I actually can't see what there is to avoid?

@cafedesreves the unnecessary use of maize starch (really, what is chemically modified corn flour doing in yogurt ). And the description of ‘natural flavourings’ - which could mean anything. These are there as a consequence of turning a natural product into a heavily processed product. That’s my main objection. We should be severely limiting our consumption of overly processed food, especially when it comes to children.

Whereas natural yoghurt is just made of milk, and is only minimally processed.

So why would you consume something that has unnecessary ingredients in it and has undergone unnecessary processes, when there is a much more natural product? It’s unquestionably healthier to eat the unprocessed version.

But, like I said, each to their own. Just don’t be fooled by thinking it’s healthy, and they ‘just add fruit juice’, because it really isn’t.

uk.fage/yoghurts/fage-total-5

@canyoutoleratethis the organic maize starch thickening the yoghurt. I'd be interested to know what has been chemically modified about it, as it's organic so there will be strict controls.

Natural flavourings must come from plants or animals so they don't worry me too much either.

But I do hear your point.

I really can't get worked up by corn flour...

Corn flour will cause an insulin spike in a product that otherwise wouldn’t. You are completely unnecessarily adding a starch, and constant consumption of starches is not good for you and over time dramatically increases your risk of type 2 diabetes. So yes, I do get worked up by adding corn flour to yoghurt.

I just strongly believe that where possible, eat the natural version of any food (or as close as possible to natural, as granted, the Greek yoghurt has also undergone processing, but I’m not so crazy as to make my own yoghurt!). So why eat a processed yoghurt when you don’t have to. If you want to make it taste sweeter, than add whole fruits (don’t get me started on the fact that the fruit in these yoghurts is just a pure sugar hit as they use a concentrated form - you are not consuming the whole fruit, which would include fibre, therefore helping to offset the spike in insulin)

I try to avoid additives and ingredients in processed food that I wouldn't find in my own kitchen, and I wouldn't have a problem with a toddler eating a homemade sauce or custard thickened with corn flour, so I would be OK giving a toddler that yoghurt too.

The normal yogurt little yeos are basically the same as the adult ones but with no bits. Not as sweet as petit filous and they are actually proper yogurt. My kids prefer them to the yeos fromage frais.

Lancashire Farm Greek Yoghurt is lovely and creamy, not tangy at all.

Oh god - I’m going to sound bloody awful... but I make my own Greek yoghurt and it’s actually very plain.

I don’t think you sound awful at all!!

Well... maybe a bit smug. I am ridiculously pleased with myself when I make yoghurt!

The junior Fage pots are flavoured and a bit more palatable to toddlers than plain Greek. Sainsburys stock them, but not all the time.