Another angle is that Vaalia term their unflavoured yoghurt as “Natural.”
They substitute, for example, “Natural” for “French Vanilla” in their vanilla flavoured line. There may be info on the French Vanilla tub regarding sugar, but nothing on the product page about it, the page also declaring " No artificial colours or sweeteners." From memory, quite delicious, but also quite sweet.
As consumers of Vaalia tend to recognise “Natural” as no flavouring, we must therefore conclude (as discussed above) Vaalia mean something entirely different when they used “All Natural” in the Kefir line.
Given there is a case it is not misleading in “Natural” vs. “All Natural”, they are sure to gain the upper hand when changing the colour, accent, weight, and size of the font in “All.” Their use of “Natural” is interestingly not the same as their use of “Plain”, which is true in the taste, as the “Natural” yoghurt has characteristics that make it more palatable than a regular “Plain” offering.
And if the alternative definition of Vanilla (Software) ever extends itself to comestibles, there is sure to be a debate as to whether any vanilla flavoured product is actually Vanilla, a sugary trail for us all to follow, no doubt. 
That’s the Vaalia yoghurt I have been buying for years, but my contention is that it is not alone among commercial yoghurts in using the label “Natural”, not only as meaning unflavoured, but also as meaning unsweetened.
But I also think it is true, as a number of posters to this thread have suggested, that vanilla-flavoured yoghurt is almost-always sweetened, so the reference on the front label (but not on the lid) to vanilla should have been something of a red flag to me.
If that extension happens I would be annoyed although the ACCC may not act, often they seem to jump between incompetent and powerless. To me context still matters. In the context of food “vanilla” on the label should mean the flavour agent vanilla is present. If it isn’t that is quite misleading.
Using “vanilla” regarding products where the concept of flavour is not relevant is figurative and means basic, not augmented, not special. Nobody should expect the product to contain vanilla.
Of course if the present trend in misusing the word “literally” when the meaning is actually figurative continues my head will literally explode.
The Vanilla Yoghurt contains added sugar, this additional sugar does not break the rules of what is termed natural. White sugar is considered a natural sugar as is brown sugar (natural in that they are not chemically manufactured like High Fructose Corn Syrup). Sucrose occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables (carrots contain about 75% sucrose of their total sugars).
From https://sa1s3.patientpop.com/assets/docs/67278.pdf
"Apricots, oranges, pineapples, and peaches each show sucrose as being the dominant sugar form contained within, meaning that more than 50% of total sugar is sucrose, not free fructose nor free glucose, whereas pears, apples, bananas and grapes contain much less sucrose per gram of total sugar and more of the monosaccharide sugar forms: glucose and fructose.
Vegetables also vary considerably. Beets have a very low content of free fructose and free glucose; but sucrose comprises more than 95% of the sugar units in beets, which explains why the beet is considered as a rich source of commercial sucrose.
Carrots are similar: sucrose comprises approximately 75% of the total sugar units in carrots, and free fructose and free glucose contribute very little. Yet, peppers, and yams, and onions contain less than 20% sucrose; the remainder is free fructose and free glucose.
What we call the sweet potato contains over 60% sucrose; yet what we call the yam a very similar root vegetable has very little monosaccharide or disaccharide sugar of any species. Yams are fundamentally fibrous and starchy, so their carbohydrate is complex, not simple, and thus called polysaccharide or starch. The same is true for the other fibrous vegetables: Brussel Sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, celery, and the leafy green group, such as spinach and kale are considered richly fibrous.
The fig is wholly unique: richer in total sugar per gram than any other fruit or vegetable, yet containing less than 1% sucrose. Glucose and fructose are equally represented in the fig, comprising 99% of this fruit’s sugar composition, but figs are not considered sweet fruits. The fig is a dry fruit in its essence without much resident water compared to other fruits. Hence, its dense fiber characterizes its nature."
US Heart Foundation on added sweeteners including sugars
" There are two types of sugars in foods: naturally occurring sugars and added sugars.
- Naturally occurring sugars are found naturally in foods such as fruit (fructose) and milk (lactose).
- Added sugars include any sugars or caloric sweeteners that are added to foods or beverages during processing or preparation (such as putting sugar in your coffee or adding sugar to your cereal). Added sugars (or added sweeteners) can include natural sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar and honey, as well as other caloric sweeteners that are chemically manufactured (such as high fructose corn syrup)."
Another point in regards to many of these commercial yoghurts is that milk solids such as milk powder, Whey, or even just lactose are often added which boosts the amount of lactose present in the product, this added milk solids increases the “creamy” texture of the product as well. Whey contains lactose as noted by the US Dairy Association “Lactose, the main component in the ingredients lactose and milk/whey permeate (dairy products solids) has good solubility below a concentration of 14% in room temperature water, but has lower solubility (will crystallize) at refrigeration temperatures. The solubility of dairy ingredients that are high in calcium (such as milk/whey permeate), decrease with heat treatment and at a pH greater than 5. These are the primary characteristics to help select the right dairy ingredient for your application”
From What Does The Term "Milk Solids" Stand For On Food Labels?
"Interpretations of Milk Solids
Milk solids can be a relatively broad term. It does not necessarily just mean full cream milk solids. It can be either full cream or skim milk solids.
Another beneficial definition to be aware of is that milk solids may be used to describe milk powder, skim milk powder, dried milk products AND any two or more of the following ingredients: whey, whey powder, whey proteins, lactose, caseinates, milk proteins and milk fat.
So this is interesting because the nutritional information could be completely different if say whey protein was added to a product within the milk solids, or extra sugar in the form of lactose was added"
So all in all it can be a product that contains only natural components, so can be termed natural or all natural. However, the product would not be what some might consider as natural as using just plain milk with no milk solids. I’m not against the addition of extras to a product, but some get hung up on what is natural and what is “natural” when used commercially.
The natural yoghurt you reference has an ingredient list that includes added milk solids as well as added skim milk. Normal milk contains about 44 mg of sodium per 100 ml, but the addition of skim milk and milk solids increases the sodium of the product to 89 mg per 100 ml (double the sodium). Normal milk has an energy amount of 175.728 kJ per 100 ml and the product after all the additions has 348 kJ per 100 ml (the cultures used would add very little kJ to the overall profile but inulin is a complex carb so would add reasonable amounts of kJ depending on how much was added (6.3 kJ/gram)). Sugar content of normal milk is about 5 g per 100 ml and the product has 7.4 g, inulin in 100 ml would therefore be about 2.4 g so roughly an additional 14 kJ of energy per 100 ml (not much additional energy so most of the additional energy comes from the added milk solids). Skim milk is added to reduce the fat amount per 100 ml from 3.25% of whole milk down to 1.9%. Whole milk has a protein amount of around 3.3 g per 100 ml, the product has 6 g per 100 ml. Natural? Well, yes and no as it depends on a person’s definition of natural.
" Ingredients
Milk, skim milk, milk solids, dietary fibre (inulin), live yoghurt cultures (incl. L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus GG)"
The University of Wollongong has also carried out consumer perceptions in relation to the use of the word ‘natural’ on products. It also includes some information on use of natural on yoghurts (link to PDF file):
https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1132&context=hbspapers
It is worth reading. It also summarises the FSANZ stance on the use of natural as:
The FSANZ Guide requires that a natural food or ingredient should not contain any
additives, have any constituent or fraction thereof removed, or be significantly altered
from its original physical, chemical or biological state. Where a food contains additives
that are natural ingredients themselves, the FSANZ Guide allows for the claim ‘This food
contains natural ingredients’.
This thread has possibly shown that as found in the UoW study, there is some variance in relation to the consumer’s perception of the word ‘natural’ on a product and what it means.
The Conversation discusses the benefits and differences between yogurt products according to the methods and ingredients. The broad descriptions chosen may not find agreement with everyone. Consider such articles are written to communicate with the broader community.
The most commonly known types of yoghurt are plain set yoghurt, flavoured yoghurt, Greek yoghurt, frozen yoghurt and drinking yoghurt.
Kefir and lassi are mentioned as the two most common styles of drinking yogurt.
Of specific interest to this topic and the broader description of different yogurt styled products the following was offered. The implication is all may not be as one expects.
You should check the product label as it is a legal requirement to list all the ingredients, cultures and nutritional information in commercial yoghurts. When it comes to probiotic yoghurts, it’s always better to choose a fresh product rather than one closer to the expiry date, as probiotics die during storage.
Yes, it’s total advertising BS and I have no intension of entering into an argument with an industry apologist on semantics. First of all, it’s neither natural kefir nor natural yogurt. It’s milk inoculated with various laboratory cultured bacteria and yeasts to give a similar taste. Natural kefir is made using kefir grains and natural yogurt is made from raw milk. Both are quite easy and cheap to make at home. I’ve been making kefir for over a decade. Kefir grains are a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeasts (SCOBY). Depending on their source, the grains can contain around 20 species of probiotic bacteria and about 10 yeasts. Commercial kefir has only a handfull of these, just enough for achieve taste. Yogurt made from raw milk also has a profusion of bacteria and yeasts but AFAIK not as much as kefir.
Yogurt can be made at home with pasteurised milk by using one of the live supermarket yogurts as a starter culture. Thereafter you have your own starter. The problem is that the milk needs to be heated to denature it, then cooled before adding the culture. Also, Lactobacillus delbrueckii soon becomes the dominant species, so while the taste is there, the probiotic properties are not as great as with kefir or raw milk yogurt.
Kefir is dead easy to make. The gains can be bought online from a number of local suppliers. A single purchase can last years if you look after them. It’s a 24hr cycle with no heating of milk required. They grow quick in plain full fat pasteurised cow’s milk. Give them to friends or eat them. Don’t throw them out. Treat them with respect for the health they give you.
By the way, if kefir or yogurt has any “natural” sugar in it, it can be only residual lactose that hasn’t been full fermented by the bacteria and yeasts. This why kefir and yogurt can be tolerated but those that are lactose intolerant. Kefir and yogurt should not be sweet. Traditionally, they were never sweet.
I am not an Industry apologist if you were referring to me. I am not able to say that the Vaalia product isn’t kefir, do you have information that proves it isn’t? If not, then it is only supposition on your part and the ingredients list clearly includes that the product has kefir cultures, I don’t know which cultures they used as it is not disclosed (do you know that it doesn’t have kefir cultures in it, if so you should report it).
I make my own kefir (both milk and water) and have done so for a very long time. I don’t ferment my kefir as long as some others do, I like it a little more sweet (and I often add stevia sweeteners) with a decent amount of acidity and far less rather than more alcohol content (the longer the fermentation the more alcohol). Others obviously prefer a more acid product, but it almost always comes with a much larger alcohol content. Depending on the variety of cultures used this can vary the alcohol content, but most sit between 0.2% and 2% ABV. Some water kefir culture drinks after about 10 days can have as much as 3.8% ABV, and one study found after 2 days the ABV was 1.6%.
From the article just above, “Kefir may have originally been made with camel’s milk, but today’s milk donor is generally a cow. Traditionally, it has an alcohol content of about 2.5 percent. (Russians use it as cure for hangovers.)”.
Vaalia does use lactase, it is most likely used as they didn’t want the product to ferment as quickly (for shelf life purposes)
nor to produce too much alcohol as anything at or above 0.5% must declare information about the alcohol content and if it is more than 1.15% then the ABV or mL/100L has to be declared. If more than 1.15% ABV, a pregnancy warning must also be included. If the content is 1.15% or greater, no health claims can be made about the product. So having less than 0.5% ABV in their kefir would be highly desirable from many standpoints.
For details go to the following FSANZ web address Labelling of alcoholic beverages
Yoghurt here in Australia is not made using raw milk commercially, what others do in their own home is up to them. I use pasteurised milk to make my home made batches of kefir and yoghurt, to avoid some possible bacterial contamination that is possible through raw milk. Traditionally honey, fruit, and nuts have been added to yoghurt and eaten as a sweet dessert style. As I said above in one of my previous posts, what one terms natural is not always accepted by another, yet both can be right based on how they define natural. The FSANZ Guide allows the use of natural as long as the ingredients are “natural”.
Yes indeed. Milk fermentation began shortly after domestication of cattle roughly 10,000 years ago. The evolution of kefir grains is unknown but thought to be at least a few hundred years ago but probably much more. The addition of processed sugar to the diet came much later. The addition of sugar to fermented milk drinks is recent commercial invention. My Austrian mother would make Sauermilch (yogurt) from raw cow’s milk (when available) in the ancestral way. She would never have dreamt of adding sugar. My understanding from older Middle Eastern colleagues is that salt is added to fermented milk but adding sugar is abhorrent. Perhaps things have now changed. I don’t know.
Kefir can be made easily in any non-metal contain you have to hand. It needs a lid to avoid extraneous bacterial contamination, but it must breath. If you want something fancier, check out kefirko.com .
Earliest detection of kefir grains is in Chinese tombs which date back 4000 years.
Kefir doesn’t have a standard method for making. Like yoghurt, there are different ways and ingredients which can be use to make what is considered a yoghurt. Yoghurt traditionally was similar to traditionally made kefir, but in modern times the traditional forms have more or less disappeared and replaced with new ingredients and production methods. For example, kefir traditionally is made in goat skin bags…using such methods today possibly would possibly considered unhygienic and would not be approved by food licencing organisations.
One could argue that milk fermented using kefir grains without using goat skin bags is not kefir but a modern manufactured product using kefir grains. However, like yoghurt which is no longer ‘traditional’ in the real sense as it isn’t made in a tuluk, it is considered kefir using modern ingredients and techniques. Food manufacturers know this and can adapt products and call them ‘yoghurt’, ‘kefir’ or '‘kefir yoghurt’. What they need to do is be able to demonstrate that the product has some resemblance of the traditional product. As the ingredients list indicate that Kefir and yoghurt cultures were used in its production, Vaalia may be able to substantiate their product labelling as being a ‘Kefir Yoghurt’, no differently to other manufacturers that add things like fruit, nuts etc to kefir or yoghurt products. These additions are modern inventions and not considered ‘traditional’.
A Traditional Greek dessert is Yiaourti me meli (Yoghurt with Honey and Walnuts)
From https://www.dianekochilas.com/greek-yogurt-2/
“In Greece, yogurt is an addition to every meal: scooped over rice pilaf, dolloped in tomato sauce; served with stewed and fried vegetables, meatballs, and grilled meats. It is used as a sauce, baked over chicken and certain beef dishes until it sets and thickens like béchamel. It is used as a condiment, stirred with shredded cucumbers and garlic to make the well-known dip tzatziki, or spooned onto savory squash and cornmeal pies, a tradition in Greece’s northern mountain regions. In some areas it is even served as a cool summer soup. Swirled with honey or spoon sweets, yogurt is divine. Strained sheep’s milk yogurt was rare, and used in lieu of cream in desserts like roasted caramelized quince, or as a pudding with honey and walnuts. A more regular treat, still a favorite with children today, is “yogurt skin”, scraped off the top of the yogurt and sprinkled with sugar.”
For an Indian recipe for a sweet dessert that has been used for thousands of years. Nowadays they add sugar but often it was the addition of honey or mango pulp to sweeten it.
