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Brownes Strawberry Natural Yoghurt | Chewsday Review

I've reviewed what feels like eleventy-million yoghurt pouches in my life time, but surely there are more family-sized tubs worthy of our attention. Let's find out if Brownes Strawberry Natural Yoghurt is the berry best.

Ingredients

Yoghurt (Milk, Milk Solids, Cream (From Milk), Live Yoghurt Cultures (including L. casei, Bifidobacterium, L. acidophilus)), Strawberry Sauce (13%) (Strawberries (42%), Sugar, Water, Rice Starch, Fruit & Vegetable Concentrate, Natural Flavour, Milk Minerals, Lemon Juice Concentrate).
This is essentially plain yoghurt flavoured with a little bit of strawberry sauce.
Allergens: Cow’s Milk.

Positives

This yoghurt contains 133mg of calcium per 100g, which is more than Chobani tubs, and similar to popular pouches, like Tamar Valley and Aldi’s Brooklea yoghurt. I was surprised to learn that the Brownes Superhero Strawberry Pouch is higher in calcium with 192mg per 100g.
At $4.95 for a 1kg tub, this is one of the more reasonable flavoured tub options in the yoghurt aisle. Coles and Woolworths home brand options are still slightly cheaper at $4 for a 1kg tub, but it’s a lot cheaper than Tamar Valley’s (now discontinued) No Added Sugar Strawberry Yoghurt, which was $8.80 for a 700g tub.
Yoghurt is made by fermenting milk with bacteria (aka a starter culture), but not all yoghurts have extra good bacteria (live cultures) added after this process. This yoghurt contains L. casei, Bifidobacterium and L. acidophilus and while Brownes haven’t given us the details on how much or the specific strains, these bacteria are all considered to be health promoting.
Total and saturated fat are both within recommendations.
Buying tubs of yoghurt over individual pouches is better for the environment.

Negatives

The amount of strawberry in this is really teeny tiny. It works out that less than half of the strawberry sauce is made of actual strawberries, making the entire product about 5% strawberry. A serve is likely to contain less than 10g of strawberry.
Most plain yoghurts contain about 5g of natural sugars per 100g, so this tells us that about 7g of sugar per 100g is coming from the strawberry sauce. The strawberry sauce does contain a little added sugar, so it’s probably fair to say this would be about a teaspoon of added sugar per 100g (not actually a huge amount).
For those of you with more sensitive kiddos, it is worth pointing out that this yoghurt does have ‘bits’ so might not be accepted if your child only eats smooth, lump-free yoghurt. It also makes it trickier to use in reusable pouches.
I don’t think this yoghurt is available nation-wide at the moment.

Marketing

Alternatives

Overall this yoghurt contains a similar amount of calcium as other popular brands and is cheaper, but does contain a small amount of added sugar. I do buy this regularly.
Now that Tamar Valley have discontinued their 700g tub, I’m back on the hunt for a flavoured tub of yoghurt without added sugar.
For babies and young toddlers I’d recommend choosing a plain, unflavoured yoghurt and offering plain as well as adding your own fruit puree/mix-ins for variety.
If choosing yoghurt is causing confusion, my Baby, Toddler and Family Mealtimes members all have access to my guides to choose yoghurt (and dairy-free yoghurt). I’d love for you to join me.