Help! How To Pick The Best Yoghurt Pouch
This is something we get asked all the time. If you are looking for advice on how to pick yogurt in general, then go check out our article on this here. We do also cover a little bit on pouches in there too, but this is a more detailed dive into what pouches on the market at the moment actually pass muster!
Now, we will also say there is a lot of judgement around using food pouches, but we get it. There are always going to be times when we need quick and easy convenience options and squeezy pouches are perfect for that. We would recommend leaving them to times when you do need them, rather than using them as an everyday option. Where possible, still serve the pouch of yogurt in a bowl and with a spoon. This is a good idea so that we are practicing those all-important feeding skills.
So, what to look for:
- Full fat (aiming for more than 3.5g per 100g of fat and avoid anything less than 3g per 100g as this is low fat)
- No added sugar. Now, this includes added fruit juice or fruit concentrate. These are often added back in to sweeten the yogurt and count as “free sugar” which means it is similar to adding in your white table sugar.
- Good source of calcium, with more than 125mg per 100g
- Live yogurt cultures in the ingredients. Some processing methods can destroy that all important probiotics in yogurt, so this is definitely one to look for.
- Good amount of protein, this is more than 3g per 100g.
- However, we want to avoid your “high protein” yogurt. They often contain more than 10g per 100g of protein and 15g over a pouch. Now for most little people, especially babies, this actually exceeds their protein needs for the day. This is without ANY of the other protein foods they will consume. They also miss out on that all important iron in yogurt, which we often try to get from things like red meat, that also provides a lot of protein. There are many reasons why we want to avoid excessive protein intake in infancy, including the potential to add stress on little kidneys.
So, which pouches meet this criteria?
Unfortunately, not many! Below are a couple that you can easily find at most major supermarkets. Now this list is not exhaustive. You mind find in different states there are others that make the cut too! There are also new products hitting the shelves every week. So, we encourage you to turn the pouch over when you see something new and look at the label to see if it worth buying.
Here are some pouches we think are pretty good:
Tamar Valley Dairy Kids-No Sugar Added
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Jalna-Pouch of Purity Organic
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Petit Miam-No Added Sugar
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Farmers Union-Greek Style Yogurt Plain
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Rafferty’s Garden-No Added Sugar
OTHER RAFFERTY'S DAIRY PRODUCTS:
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The take home:
Beware- many of the yogurt pouches marketed to kids with colourful characters have added sugar and are low fat. If you want more options or to save a little money (pouches are incredibly expensive compared to tubs) then you can also buy reusable silicon and plastic pouches that you can fill with the yogurt you usually buy. As well as being more affordable it is also a better option for the environment with less single use plastic being used. However, they can be a little fiddly to clean.
It sounds obvious but another easy option is just putting your usual yogurt into a normal reusable container. Yes, it isn’t as convenient as a pouch and will mean stopping for snack time but as we recommend seated and supervised eating it is a good option too.
Have you seen any other yogurts that deserve to be on this list? If so, let us know and leave a comment below.
What are good dairy free options for possible CP intolerance?
We have a great post on dairy free options over on the instagram page!
Do you have a go to list for tubs of yoghurt?
Hi Laura! Thanks for your question. We currently don’t, but will look into creating an article on these for ease of bulk-buying.
Yes please would love an article on tubs of yoghurt for bulk buying please!
Did you ever put that article together?
Also I’m a bit confused as to when it’s okay to offer yogurt?
Hey There! We did! It’s fine to offer yogurt from introducing first foods!
Hi Jeanette, I can’t seem to find the article comparing tubs of yoghurt – are you able to link me to it at all? Thanks!
Hello! Its in the library now! One of the first resources in there!