Trader Joe’s Soy Yogurt was discontinued, but Silk Soymilk Yogurt and Stonyfield Organic Dairy Free Yogurt are still available.
Thanks to TD, the creator of the new YogBlog, for providing this thorough review of Trader Joe’s Soy Yogurt. She is a yogurt fanatic, and will be trialing many dairy and soy yogurts in pursuit of the perfect probiotic snack.
One-word verdict: Varies.
The backstory: It’s hard to judge soy yogurt by the same standards as dairy yogurt. Add enough thickeners and colorants and you may get it to look like the real thing, but I think that—as is the case with soy milk—you just can’t expect it to taste much like a dairy product or you will be disappointed. However, once you get past that, I think it is possible to accept soy yogurt on its own terms. And if you have a need for a dairy-free yogurt alternative (whether for kosher, vegan, lactose, or other reasons), the good news is that there are definitely some soy yogurts out there that are worth accepting. (There are also some that are vile.)
So which category does TJ’s house brand fall into? I sampled the peach and raspberry flavors to find out.
Nutrition: Pretty much all the soy yogurts I’ve ever seen are saturated-fat free, which is great, but they are also often very high in sugar, as if trying to mask the taste (or lack thereof) of soy. Both TJ’s flavors contain 0 grams saturated fat per 6-ounce cup and don’t go too crazy with the sugar—18 grams sugar for the peach, 19 grams for the raspberry. As a bonus, each flavor also contains 2 grams fiber (thanks, soy!), but the variety of starches added to help the texture approximate that of dairy yogurt bumps the total carb counts up quite a bit (27 grams carb for the peach, 32 for the raspberry), resulting in 160 calories for the peach and 170 calories for the raspberry. And both have 6 grams protein, though how much of that is true soy protein isn’t specified.
Both yogurts are kosher, pareve, vegan, and gluten-free.
Well, how is it? The thing that surprised me most about this tasting experience was how much it differed between the two flavors I tried.
I started with the peach flavor. Upon opening the container I was greeted with a fairly gloppy-looking yogurt (“American-style,” I call it), but it was a nice orange color and smelled appetizing. The taste was pretty sweet with a bit of a soy undertone (this wasn’t bad, however—like I said, you just have to accept that soy yogurt has a taste all its own). There were little peach chunks throughout the yogurt, though not that many, and I’m sad to say that they were kind of tasteless.
Still, the product was all right, innocuous. Not the best soy yogurt I’ve ever tasted, but perfectly edible. The next time I go vegan for a week, I would put it on the menu.
The raspberry, on the other hand, was distinctively grayish in color. (In fact, I’d call it a barely pink shade of gray.) It had the worst part of the raspberries—the seeds—distributed throughout without any good fruity chunks. And, I shit you not, it tasted like tartar sauce.
Tartar sauce, you ask? Yes, tartar sauce. I actually ate my way through the whole the cup because with every bite I thought “Nah…that can’t be right. The next bite has to taste different.” But alas, no, tartary all the way. So congratulations, Trader Joe, on discovering the strange alchemy that can apparently turn soy, starch, fruit, sugar, and cultures into such a close approximation of everyone’s favorite pickly mayonnaise condiment.
Blech.
Where’s it made? Where are any store’s private-label goods made? It’s so hard to tell. These yogurts were, however, “Distributed & Sold Exclusively” from Trader Joe’s Monrovia, CA, address, 2,759 miles from NYC.
Ingredient notes: Both flavors consist of pasteurized and cultured organic soymilk (filtered water and ground organic soybeans), organic evaporated cane juice, fruit (peaches or raspberries), cornstarch, organic rice starch, natural flavors, lactic acid (from vegetable source), tricalcium phosphate, and four live active cultures. The peach also has “annatto (for color),” listed before the tricalcium phosphate, while the raspberry has no color additives listed (mystery of the gray color solved!).
So, more sugar than fruit…a couple of thickening starches…an acid to help ferment said starches…color in the peach flavor…and an added source of calcium (which may not be as bioavailable as calcium carbonate). That’s a fair amount of “stuff” added, though most commercial soy yogurts tend to be fairly processed food products in their quest to look similar to dairy yogurts (which are often pretty processed themselves). And at least some of the stuff is organic and all of it is fairly natural.
Processing/Earth-/Animal-friendliness: Clearly these yogurts are pretty animal-friendly, since they’re animal-product-free! Some of the ingredients are organic (the soymilk, evap. cane juice, and rice starch; not the fruit or cornstarch, though). The containers are your standard #5 plastic with a plastic lid.
Price: Not bad—a 6-ounce cup costs 99 cents at, you guessed it, Trader Joe’s. (But the question with any TJ’s product always is: Will it actually be on the shelf when I get there? And will it be discontinued next week? Hoard’em if you like ’em, I guess, because ya never know.)
The bottom line: The peach tastes all right, is at least partly organic, and doesn’t cost too much, so I think it’s a decent option if you’re doing the soy yogurt thing. The raspberry is flat-out nasty. There’s also a strawberry flavor, but I don’t eat strawberry yogurt (sorry), so if you try it, please post a comment and let us know how it is.
Where to Purchase: See the Trader Joe’s website for a store locator.
SCORING:
Peach flavor:
taste: 3; texture: 1; sugar: 1; sat fat: 2; price: 2; naturally sweetened: 1; animal/earth friendliness: 0.5
TOTAL = 10.5 (out of 20)
Raspberry flavor:
taste: 1; texture: 1; sugar: 1; sat fat: 2; price: 2; naturally sweetened: 1; animal/earth friendliness: 0.5
TOTAL = 8.5 (out of 20)
The YogBlog Scoring System:
Basics:
- Taste: 0-5 points
- Texture: 0-3 points
Bonuses:
- Flavor novelty: 0-1 point
- 20 grams sugar or less: 1 point
- 16 grams or less: 2 points
- 3 grams sat fat or less: 1 point
- 1 gram or less: 2 points
- Regularly priced $1.01-$1.25: 1 point
- $1.00 or less: 2 points
- Completely free of thickeners and preservatives: 2 points
- Naturally sweetened (i.e., with fruit juice, maple syrup, honey, evaporated cane juice, organic sugar…): 1 points
- Animal friendliness (no hormones, no antibiotics, free-ranging, etc.): 1 point
- Easily recyclable container: 1 point
Highest possible score: 20
9 Comments
I want plain, non-sweetened soy yogurt – no fruits or sweeteners or vanilla. Is such a
thing possible? I loved it (before it became extinct) to top chili, soups and just about
everything.
Yes, there are two brands of unsweetened yogurt!
WholeSoy: http://www.godairyfree.org/product-reviews/alternatives-other-dairy/wholesoy-a-co-soy-yogurt-unsweetened-a-key-lime-pie-vegan-gluten-free
Brand new from So Delicious: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152166811776350&set=a.484523046349.297982.51829811349&type=1&theater
You know, I just tried some of these and I really, really wish the sugar content wasn’t so high. I assume they are trying to mask the soy flavor, but I can’t even eat any of this stuff – 18g of sugar in a 170g container of yogurt? Good lord! And that’s the peach which is apparently the *least* sweet.
Ugh. What a disappointment.
Trader Joe’s private label soy yogurt is actually made by Whole Soy. http://www.wholesoyco.com/
Do your own taste test and you’ll see they are identical!
do you know if Trader Joes uses castoreum in their products??
No I don’t. You might want to contact them directly.
I actually purchase their larger containers of “Organic Soy Yogurt: Vanilla” which are 24 oz containers. I do not purchase the little ones as they’re so pricey…
The taste is very comparable to any decent vanilla yogurt out there, it is perhaps a little sweeter and a little thinner, but very creamy and not liquidy at all.
Serving size: 1c, servings per container ~3
Calories: 210 (From Fat:50)
20mg of sodium, 2g fiber, 23g sugars, 9g protein, 31g carbs overall.
I eat it with some of their frozen berries or other fruits – i thaw them out in a container in the fridge and add in my bowl as needed. I love doing it this way because I can have strawberry one day, blueberry the next, peach when I want it, cherries etc… It is a lot less restrictive & more cost effective. I think the container is under 3$ or so.
With a husband who is severely allergic to milk protein & being intolerant myself.. we are always extra cautious about what we feed him… and this is just GREAT. He loves Yogurt!! Just be careful if you’re an adult like him and it’s your first time having yogurt/probiotics, it can be rough at first.
I have gone to the large TJs vanilla soy yogurt as well, here in CA only 2.49 per container, and a lot more cost efficient. Over the last 6 months, have become so accustomed to this particular flavor that when I try small tastes of dairy yogurt, I realize that I actually prefer the soy version….how far I’ve come since the developing symptoms of lactose intolerance began, and how happy I am to have the flavor and consistency. Yay! I would give it a solid 17 on the scale.
I’m not very knowledgeable about yogurts since I am lactose intolerant – ergo the quest for soy products. I eat TJ’s “strawberry” soy yogurt for breakfast every day (and yes, I hoard it – meaning I wipe out TJ’s complete inventory of it whenever I need more). I think the taste is comparable to dairy strawberry yogurt. At least close enough for my taste buds. I obviously like it if I eat it every day. I am definitely looking for lower sugar non-dairy yogurt though. Although, I think the probiotics need carbohydrate to feed upon.