Frozen Yogurt Day

What the day is

Frozen Yogurt Day is observed on February 6. It is routinely presented as the sensible choice against ice cream, and that deserves examining rather than repeating.

Origin and background

Frozen yogurt arrived commercially in the United States in the 1970s and became a phenomenon twice, once in the 1980s and again around 2010 with the self-serve tart-style shops.

The nutritional comparison is genuine as far as it goes. Frozen yogurt typically contains substantially less fat than ice cream, because it is built on cultured milk rather than cream. But lower fat does not mean lower sugar, and it is frequently higher, partly because sugar is doing work that fat would otherwise do for texture and partly to offset the tartness. A cup of frozen yogurt and a scoop of ice cream are closer in calories than most people assume.

Then there is the serving model. Self-serve shops charge by weight and hand the customer an oversized cup, which is a straightforwardly effective way of increasing portion size, and the toppings bar is where the arithmetic really goes. Crushed biscuit, sauces and candy added to a nominally light dessert can exceed the base product several times over.

The live cultures question is worth being precise about. Yogurt cultures do survive freezing, and products carrying a live and active cultures seal contain meaningful quantities. But many frozen yogurts are heat-treated after culturing, which kills them, and toppings and sugar do not care either way. If probiotic benefit is the reason for choosing it, the label needs checking.

None of which is an argument against eating it. It is an argument against eating it because it is virtuous.

How to take part

• Have it because you like it, not because it is the healthy option.
• Check the sugar figure against the ice cream you were avoiding.
• Look for a live and active cultures seal if that is why you chose it.
• Fill the cup less than the cup invites.
• Make it at home by freezing thick yogurt with fruit, which is genuinely different.