20120208 - Nutritional balance of fat-free natural yogurt - 2011

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[<Normal page] [PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2011). Nutritional balance of fat-free natural yogurt. Journal of Knowledge Advancement & Integration (ISSN 1177-4576), 2012, pages 69-71.]

Fat-free natural yogurt's BNI

Perezgonzalez assessed the nutritional balance of fat-free natural yogurt in 2011, as part of a research on yogurts in New Zealand.

Fat-free natural yogurt had, on average, a nutritional balance of BNI 125.80s, being particularly biased towards excess of sugar. It was adequate in carbohydrate and saturated fat, high in protein and sodium, and low in fat and fiber. It also provided about 174mg of calcium per 100g of yogurt.

Illustration 1: Nutrition information (fat-free natural yogurt)

BNI	125.80s	0.00

Food, 100g	2011	Ideal
Protein	5.4	2.5
Carbohydrate	6.7	6.9
Sugar	6.7	< 1.3
Fat	0.2	1.4
Saturated fat	0.1	< 0.1
Fiber	0.0	0.8
Sodium	0.060	< 0.050
Kcal	50.2	50.2
kJul	210.0	210.0

Illustration 2: Nutritional profile (fat-free natural yogurt)

55%		*
50%		*
45%	*	*
40%	*	*
35%	*	*
30%	*	*
25%	*	*
20%	*	*
15%	*	*
10%	*	*
5%	*	*	*
mid	p	c	f	fb
max		s	sf		na
5%		*			*
10%		*
15%		*
20%		*
25%		*
30%		*
35%		*
40%		*
45%		*
50%		*
55%		*

ideal % = grey cells; actual % = asterisk (*)

International standards

Fat-free natural yogurt appeared as extremely unbalanced according to international Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs), although only as highly unbalanced according to US/CAN standards.

Illustration 3: Nutritional balance across international RDIs

Fat-free natural yogurt	(diet)	125.8	145.8	75.42	125.42	103.42

Product100g	Company	BNI	WHO	US/CAN	AUS/NZ	UK
DeWinkel Acidophilus plain unsweetened	Fonterra	125.72	145.72	75.34	125.34	103.34
Slimmer's choice yogurt natural	Fonterra	125.94	145.94	75.55	125.55	103.55
(Source: Perezgonzalez, 2011a¹)

Methods

Research approach

Exploratory study.

Data

The initial research sample included 342 yogurt products (ie, cow-milk and soy, natural and flavored, and fat-free, low-fat, standard and creamy)¹. The sample was collected in a convenient manner, looking more for a large sample than a random selection of products. The results in this study simply describe the 'subsample' of fat-free natural cow-milk yogurts within the original sample: ie, 2 products.

Materials & analysis

Relevant data were collated, then assessed using the Balanced Nutrition Index™ (BNI™) technology (see Perezgonzalez, 2011b²). SPSS-v18 was used for the computation of variables, including BNI and international indexes, and statistical analyses.

Generalization potential

Most of the products were produced locally, although some may have been imported or exported, especially from and to Australia, respectively. Thus, the results of this study may be generalizable to the following populations (in order of decreasing generalization power):

Australia.
Internationally, if one assumes yogurt products to be of approximately similar nutritional composition anywhere.

References

1. PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2011a). Yogurts galore. The Balanced Nutrition Index (ISSN 1177-8849), 2012, issue 1. (Retrievable from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/BNI).

2. PEREZGONZALEZ Jose D (2011b). Balanced Nutrition Index™ (BNI™). Journal of Knowledge Advancement & Integration (ISSN 1177-4576), 2011, pages 20-21. Also retrievable from Wiki of Science.

Want to know more?

BNI™ database: The database offers individual nutrition analyses for foods, including the food referred to in above article.
BNI™ journal (2012, issue 1) - Yogurts galore: This issue of the Balanced Nutrition Index™ journal collates all BNI™ nutrition information for the original sample in a single book.
Wiki of Science - Nutritional balance of foods: This Wiki of Science page collates information about several foods on a single page and provides useful links to the appropiate files.