Friendly Farms Probiotic Lowfat Yogurt

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Probiotics are beneficial microbes that live on or in the body. They may help keep harmful bacteria in check and may boost immunity. Probiotics might also improve digestive health and may help with other conditions as well. You might boost your probiotic levels by eating certain foods such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, or sauerkraut or by taking probiotic supplements.

I often up my probiotic intake by eating yogurt. While not all yogurt contains probiotics, many yogurts do, and labels will often say they contain “live and active cultures.” I usually buy my yogurt from Aldi, which carries a wide variety of yogurt in cups, tubes, and tubs in various flavors. My go-to is plain, full-fat regular or Greek yogurt without added sugar, with add-ins such as fruit, granola, and a touch of locally produced honey. Lately, I’ve been buying Friendly Farms Whole Milk Greek Yogurt from Aldi.

I’m always willing to try other yogurts at Aldi, though, and I noticed they also sell yogurt that is specifically marked as “probiotic.” It looks like it might be a knockoff of name-brand Dannon Activia probiotic yogurt. Friendly Farms Probiotic Lowfat Yogurt features 1% milkfat, and it includes the following live and active cultures: B. Lactis, L. Acidophilus, L. Bulgaricus, and S. Thermophilus. The individual yogurt cups inside this pack state they contain “billions of live & active cultures.”

Harvard Health Publishing states that yogurt is officially yogurt according to the FDA if it contains S. Thermophilus and L. Bulgaricus. The Aldi probiotic yogurt falls into that category. Many yogurts that are not specifically marked as probiotic yogurt still contain probiotics and live and active cultures. For example, the Friendly Farms Whole Milk Greek Yogurt tub I usually buy contains S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus, L. Acidophilus, Bifidus, and L. Casei.

Friendly Farms Probiotic Lowfat Yogurt is a Regular Buy, which means you should be able to find it at Aldi all year. You’ll find it among all the other yogurt cups and yogurt tubs in the refrigerator case. The store signage indicated that this comes in strawberry and vanilla flavors. I usually prefer strawberry-flavored yogurt, but I only found vanilla at my local store at the time when I bought this yogurt. The package I bought had a sell-by date of more than three weeks out from my date of purchase.

This cost $2.55 at my local store at the time of writing for a 16-ounce package that contains four 4-ounce yogurt cups. That comes out to about 16 cents per ounce or about 64 cents per yogurt cup.

For comparison, a 4-pack of Activia probiotic yogurt cost about 19 cents per ounce or about 75 cents per yogurt cup at Walmart at the time of writing. You can get a better deal if buy a large 12-pack of Activia yogurt, which cost about 14 cents per ounce or about 57 cents per yogurt cup at Walmart at the time of writing. The Activia yogurt contains the following live and active cultures: L. Bulgaricus, L. Lactis, S. Thermophilus, and B. Lactis. Most Activia yogurt flavors I looked at contain 8 grams of added sugar per serving, which is the same as the Aldi probiotic yogurt.

Another name brand in the probiotic yogurt market is Stonyfield. I found 32-ounce tubs of plain, no-sugar-added organic probiotic whole milk Stonyfield probiotic yogurt selling for $4.46, or about 14 cents per ounce, at Walmart at the time of writing. The Stonyfield probiotic yogurt contains the following live and active cultures: Live Active Cultures: S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus, L. Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. Paracasei, and L. Rhamnosus.

So, you might be able to find better deals on probiotic yogurt if you’re willing to buy name brand yogurt cups such as Activia in larger bulk packs of a dozen. You might also pay less overall (and have less plastic waste) if you buy a tub of plain probiotic yogurt such as Stonyfield. What you prefer might also depend on whether you are looking for specific live and active cultures.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this Aldi probiotic yogurt contains milk.

Besides the live and active cultures, ingredients for the vanilla probiotic yogurt are cultured pasteurized Grade A low fat milk, sugar, water, modified food starch, natural flavor, annatto extract and turmeric (color), carrageenan, pectin, citric acid, vanilla extract, vitamin A palmitate, and vitamin D3.

One vanilla probiotic yogurt cup has 90 calories, 1.5 grams of total fat (2% DV), 1 gram of saturated fat (5% DV), 65 mg of sodium (3% DV), 17 grams of total carbohydrates (6% DV), no dietary fiber, 12 grams of total sugars, 8 grams of added sugars (16% DV), and 4 grams of protein.

As for how this yogurt tastes, it’s good. It has a thinner consistency similar to other non-Greek yogurts. It has a tangy, sweet vanilla flavor. While vanilla yogurt isn’t my favorite flavor, this is all right.

The Verdict:

Friendly Farms Probiotic Lowfat Yogurt comes in vanilla or strawberry flavors, although we only found vanilla in our local store at the time of writing. This yogurt has 1% milkfat and 8 grams of added sugar per serving. The labels state it contains billions of live and active cultures, and that it contains the following live and active cultures: B. Lactis, L. Acidophilus, L. Bulgaricus, and S. Thermophilus. You might be able to find cheaper probiotic yogurts under some name brands such as Activia or Stonyfield if you buy bulk packs or larger tubs. However, this Aldi yogurt tastes fine and will give you a probiotic boost if that’s what you’re looking for.