Not all yogurts are created equal

MANILA, Philippines - The popularity of yogurt among the health-conscious consumers has made this healthy food a big and profitable business. However, it has also left a lot of consumers confused. According to Pie Bonoan, general manager of Yo-Swirls Frozen Yogurt by Better Than Ice Cream (BTIC), because of the many choices on the market today, many end up buying yogurt without really understanding what makes yogurt, yogurt.

Yoswirls is the new soft serve frozen yogurt cafe that is owned and operated by BTIC, Inc. The first Yo-Swirls store recently opened at the fifth floor of Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City. Yoswirls is real yogurt, cultured and fermented the traditional way at the BTIC factory in San Juan and contains millions of live and active yogurt and probiotic cultures — Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium. It is therefore a delicious and healthier alternative for consumers looking for a great treat or snack.

 “Yogurt’s appeal lies in the live and active bacteria it carries. These bacteria — Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus — give yogurt its health benefits. Without these at least two bacteria, a dairy product can’t be called yogurt. Also, studies show that in order to get the potential health benefits of these bacteria, they must be live in the product at the time of consumption,” Bonoan notes.

But yogurt lovers should take notice: there are products in the marketplace that take advantage of yogurt’s healthful image, but do not contain live and active cultures. And if they have the live cultures, the numbers may not be frozen enough. The freezing process does not kill any significant amount of the cultures — in fact, during the freezing process the cultures go into a dormant state, but when eaten and returned to a warm temperature within the body, they again become active and are capable of providing all the benefits of cultures in a refrigerated yogurt product.

Like all of the healthy foods, yogurt works synergistically to promote health and fight disease: It provides a range of health benefits such as probiotics (that come from live active cultures), protein, calcium, and B vitamins.

For more information, call 725-4313 / 724-5978 or visit www.bticfrozenyogurt.com or join http://www.facebook.com/bticfrozenyogurt.