Why do some yogurts contain gelatin?

This is enough to warm up vegetarians and vegans. The NGO Foodwatch denounces this Thursday the presence of animal substances hidden in everyday consumer products. In particular, it pinpoints Yoplait yogurts whose label mentions the presence of “gelatin”, without specifying that it is made from beef. But more broadly how is it that yogurts contain gelatin?

find a subterfuge

Since 2014, a page on the Yoplait site has been devoted to the issue. The brand notes that in general "yogurts rarely contain gelatin". The practice concerns almost exclusively low-fat products, ubiquitous on the shelves since the 90s. However, a 0% yogurt is devoid of fat (cream of milk). Without it, no creamy yogurt, or even no texture at all. We must therefore deceive ourselves.

When the industry displays a product with one ingredient less, it must find a subterfuge to replace it with an additive with similar properties. According to Yoplait, gelatin is ideal because it "provides a delicious texture that is, so far, unmatched." That “which goes into the manufacture of our 0% basket is of bovine origin […] unless explicit mention is made of porcine origin”, it is specified. Gelatin is also economically more advantageous than other vegetable thickeners such as guar gum.

The process of making gelatin of animal origin is detailed in an unsavory video from Brut.

“Gelatin will be permanently removed from the recipe [des Paniers de Yoplait 0%] in 2019,” the brand announced in a press release sent to several media. It remains to be seen whether the ingredient will be eliminated altogether or whether it will be replaced by another additive. Contacted by Liberation, the brand could not provide more information. A question of confidentiality and recipe not fully validated for the moment.

Ultra-processed products

With the help of a quick search on the participatory site Open Food Facts, which lists thousands of products from supermarkets as well as their composition, we realize that Yoplait, acquired in 2011 by the American group General Mills, is not the only manufacturer to add gelatin to some of its yoghurts. Danone also uses this practice for its cottage cheese Activia.

“You have to put all this in the context of ultra-processed products. We are in a logic of marketing, not health. The industry is trying to sell a low fat product to make people think they are going to have a slim waist, which is absolutely not the case since milk fat has no connection with weight and cardiovascular disease. And for that, we use more cocktails of industrial additives than real food, ”notes Anthony Fardet, researcher in preventive and holistic nutrition, author of the book Stop ultra-processed foods! Let's eat real.

The real recipe for a yoghurt could not be simpler. Take whole milk, which contains about 40 grams of fat per litre, and ferments. And if you want, add sugar, (real) vanilla, fresh fruit... In 2013, the show C'est pas sorcier explained the manufacturing process on Chantal Benech's farm.

For comparison, here is the list of ingredients for a Yoplait 0% fruit basket: skimmed milk made from milk powder; skimmed milk ; fruit (14% strawberry or 12% morello cherry or 10% raspberry or blackberry; skimmed milk powder; carrot juice; gelatin; processed corn starch; grape juice; thickeners (guar gum, carrageenan, pectin); acidity (sodium citrates, citric acid); flavourings; sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K); lactic ferments (milk).

And the list of ingredients for a vanilla-flavoured Activia cottage cheese: milk cottage cheese; whole milk ; water ; cream (milk); sugar (7.4%); glucose-fructose syrup (0.7%); thickeners (E1422, E440, E412); milk proteins; aroma; gelatin (non-porcine); acidity correctors (E330, E333, E331); dyes (E160a, E101); lactic ferments including bifidobacterium (Bifidus ActiRegularis) (milk); exhausted vanilla pods; decor (vanilla bark).