Frozen Yogurt

     Between today and yesterday, I have eaten a quart of delicious frozen yogurt.  Now I have smelly gas proving that frozen yogurt, at least the Trader Joe's brand that I bought, is no good for you, though I still love it despite the stomach aches.  This brings to question, is this gas due to lactose intolerance? Or is it the fact that I haven't had any dairy recently and my system was shocked?
     I have read many cases of people immediately getting sick when consuming dairy products after year long hiatuses, but these dairy products were usually tall glasses of pasteurized milk void of the natural cultures that would handle the lactose in your body.  Also, I have heard the cultures in yogurt work against lactose intolerance.  Interestingly enough, store-bought frozen yogurt has been pasteurized to enhance the flavor, which lead me to question the cultures in Pinkberry and the like.  I actually just learned this as I was typing this entry.  The fact that fact that store-bought frozen yogurt is pasteurized surprised me so much, I decided to email Yoplait, asking about their yogurt's pasteurization.  I'll update to this post when I get an answer.
     To solve the mystery of my upset stomach, I think it is caused by my lactose intolerance.  I think I will start trying out raw milk to test the difference.  All in all, ice cream is delicious.  I just went out and bought a quart of Cherry Garcia.  This time I think I'll pace myself.

UPDATE:  So apparently, the yogurt at Yoplait is first pasteurized as milk, then cultures are added so that the yogurt is formed. here is the actual email they sent me.

Thank you for contacting us concerning Yoplait yogurt.  We appreciate the opportunity to address this matter. 

The process of making yogurt is very similar to the way milk is turned into cottage cheese, sour cream or even cheddar cheese. Milk is pasteurized, then yogurt cultures, and/or fruit and flavorings are added. Then the product is heated to allow the cultures to grow. After a period of time, the product is cooled.  

 

The difference between yogurt and other cultured milk products is the variety of bacterial cultures added to the milk. For yogurt, those cultures are Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and Streptococcus Thermophilus. Yoplait adds another culture, Lactobacillus Acidophilus. The names may be complicated but they are the key to the distinctive flavor and texture of yogurt.

 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeremy Gold

Consumer Services