Peach Frozen Yogurt

New frozen yogurt shops are popping up on every corner.  I can think of five that have opened within a few miles of my house in just the past couple of years.  While they advertise as being healthy, it takes one look at the ingredients to see they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.  Lots of food additives, artificial flavors, and food dyes – lots and lots of food dyes.  Even the “Fancy French Vanilla” at Yogli-Mogli has yellow no. 5, yellow no. 6, and red no. 40.  All three of those food dyes contain carcinogens (a cancer causing substance).  And that’s before you get the all the sugar loaded toppings.

Recently, Yoforia opened close to my house.  They advertise as using organic ingredients, and have the Stonyfield Organic yogurt logo on their site.  You would assume it’s a safe place to eat but the picture with gummy worms, and colored candy on their homepage made me wonder.  There is no ingredient list on their website, or nutritional information.  Hmm, what are you hiding if you are serving organic products?  I did a Google search for more information and found an investigative article from Food Babe.  She tried contacting Yoforia to get a list of ingredients and they would not share the information with her, nor would they tell her what food additives, if any, are in their products.  I called my local store and they said they did not have a complete ingredient list to share.  So again I ask, what are you hiding Yoforia?

UPDATE: after checking back on Yoforia’s website today (7/1/2012) I found ingredients listed.  You will find an array of artificial ingredients listed, including artificial flavors, tartrazine (fancy name for yellow no.5), and hydrogenated oils.

The best way to make sure you are getting organic, free from food additives, frozen yogurt is to make it yourself!  It’s easy to do in a Vita-Mix and should still work in other blenders or food processors.  We made peach frozen yogurt.  It was wonderful and will be a new staple dessert around here!  It took just a few minutes to make, two ingredients, and quick clean up too!  We’ve said goodbye to frozen yogurt shops from now on!

I added a 6oz container (3/4 cup) of organic peach yogurt, (use yogurt of your choice, coconut yogurt for a vegan option or greek yogurt for high protein option), and 1 cup of frozen organic peaches to the blender.  Start on a low speed, increase to high, and blend until it is smooth.  I had to scrap down the sides a few times, but still only took about about one minute to make!  You may need more yogurt, depending on your blender, but the 6oz container and 1 cup of frozen fruit worked perfect for us.  This made 2 small servings.  The girls added some toppings, just as if they were at a yogurt shop.  They split a pack of Annie’s Organic bunny fruit snacks, and added some fresh blueberries and strawberries.  It was so much fun, so easy, and much better than any yogurt shop we’ve been to!

Enjoy!  Victoria.