Tasting Panel – Kids’ Yogurt

Today I would like to post my first entry in what I hope will be a recurring feature of the blog, and that is kids’ (and adults’) tasting panel.

I thought what better product to start with than what seems like one of the fastest growing markets for kids food products: yogurt pouches. There is now a dizzying array of individually wrapped packages of yogurt marketed to kids. I have mixed feelings about these products. For one, I’m not sure I fully understand the advantage of the tube over the cup. Anyone who has tried to give one to a small child in the car knows that they are definitely not neater than a cup for the under 3 crowd, and even to this day, my son often insists on getting the tubes and then transferring the contents to a bowl. This is really a win win since you pay a premium for individual sizes, pollute the environment with the packaging, and still dirty a bowl. Let’s move on.

My other issue with the tubes is that, assuming your child has finally grasped how to suck the contents out without transferring to a third location, do you really have any idea what is in those things? How many adults have really tried a Gogurt? So I decided to end the mystery, and show you just what is inside, followed by an adult and kid tasting.

Here was my selection for today’s tasting: Gogurt in Burstin’ Melon and Cotton Candy, Simply Gogurt Strawberry, Chuck E Cheese in Strawberry Banana and Cotton Candy,  (I realized now that the Chuck E Cheese are only available at Walmart here, but those were the ones that appealed to my son the day we did the test, so we went for it), Chobani Grape and Strawberry, and Danonino Peach and Strawberry Banana.

 So without further ado, here is my first attempt at video posting. It could have used an edit or two, but I really couldn’t figure out how to trim some scenes and leave others. Hopefully my video editing skills will improve before next time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb0qSFi1xeg

For those who just want to know who won, it was Chobani Grape for the kiddo and Danonino Strawberry Banana for  mom. The Chuck e Cheese were actually surprisingly decent, and definitely won over Gogurt, which I found unbelievably artificial tasting (and looking).

One last tip: Since, let’s face it, most of these are loaded with sugar, why not try freezing them to make popsicles that at least have some nutritional value. A mom friend showed me that trick and I thought it was a great one.