By Andrea DiNoto

A perennial favorite for calcium, protein—and portability—yogurt’s milk varieties and beneficial cultures are elevating it to the go-to source for taste and health. According to Specialty Food Magazine’s 2006 State of the Specialty Food Industry report, yogurt has emerged as the fastest-growing specialty food category. Sales of specialty yogurt and kefir (a tart, drinkable yogurt) shot up 53.3 percent between 2003 and 2005, to nearly $500 million.

Milk Matters
Artisanal yogurt makers are asking consumers to consider the source: that is, the type of milk from which their small-batch products are made. While cow’s milk dominates the world market, sheep, goat and water buffalo milks create yogurt with flavorful and textural nuances and a host of nutritional benefits.

Yogurt offers a significant source of protein and calcium, all inherent properties of milk. But some milks are naturally richer in these substances than others, leaving purveyors of non-cow’s milk yogurt to stake out a significant niche market. Sheep’s milk is high in B6 and 12 vitamins, folic acid and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron. Sheep’s milk products—such as Old Chatham, N.Y.’s Old Chatham Sheepherding Company’s cup-set yogurt, made from a herd of 1,200 East Fiesian sheep—are reported to provide double the protein, 50 percent more calcium, and less fat than the cow’s milk variety.

Like sheep’s milk, goat’s milk yogurt can provide an alternative for individuals with cow’s milk sensitivities. The product’s ease of digestibility is due to smaller fat particles than those found in cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is a good source of calcium, protein, phosphorous, vitamin B12 and potassium. Jennifer Bice, owner of California’s Redwood Hill, one of four exclusively goat-milk dairies in the U.S., reports that goat’s milk is “a conscious choice” that consumers buy more for health benefits (primarily because of lactose intolerance) than as a snack.

Goats and water buffalo convert the carotene in their diet to vitamin A, producing milk and cream that are pure white in color. Buffalo milk yogurt is believed to have 58 percent more calcium and 40 percent more protein than cow’s milk yogurt. The yogurt of Vermont’s Woodstock Water Buffalo Company, with its ricotta-like consistency, also contains 42 percent less cholesterol than cow’s milk. Some Woodstock flavors contain a dose of omega-3 essential fatty acids, purported to help prevent certain chronic ailments such as heart disease and arthritis.

No Plain, No Gain
Overall, plain varieties of non-cow’s milk yogurt lead specialty sales. In fact, any type of plain yogurt is the healthful choice, with fewer calories, twice the amount of proteins, more calcium, and no added sugar when compared to fruit-added flavors (some of which have between three and seven teaspoons of sugar per cup).

Artisanal makers also maintain that milk derived from hand-tended animals raised organically or according to sustainable agricultural methods guarantees a pure and natural product, free from GMOs.

Yogurt’s health benefits are featured as prominently on its packaging as flavor, texture and type. Most health-savvy consumers know that yogurt’s live cultures are friendly bacteria that aid digestion and benefit the entire gastrointestinal tract. Also known as probiotics, live cultures are micro-organisms that make yogurt what it is—a tangy, cultured or fermented milk product with a gel-like texture. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandates that allyogurt must contain the starter cultures lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus; but many makers now fortify their products with extra bacteria such as L. acidophilus, creating a new generation of yogurts with probiotic cultures.

Two organic makers—Stonyfield Farm and Nancy’s Yogurt from Oregon’s Springfield Creamery—produce yogurts with six cultures for maximum benefit. Dannon’s Activia yogurt, launched this year, features bifidus regularis, a natural probiotic culture that the company says “survives passage through the digestive tract,” hence promoting regularity. Carmelle Druchniak, senior communications manager for Stonyfield, notes that the company also adds the soluble fiber inulin to its yogurt as a boost to calcium absorption. Inulin is one of several types of prebiotics, nondigestible food ingredients that selectively stimulate the growth and activity of friendly, beneficial bacteria (probiotics) within the intestines.

In the digestive tract’s acidic environment, survival of the fittest cultures is essential to yogurt’s efficacy as a functional food. The “Live & Active Cultures” seal on refrigerated or frozen yogurt, as established by the National Yogurt Association, indicates that the product contains at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture. Yogurts that are heat treated to extend shelf-life and/or reduce tartness have no active cultures and so don’t rise above snack or dessert status.

Andrea DiNoto is the former editor of Cookbook Digest and co-author of New York’s 50+ Best Places to Enjoy Dessert.