Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Yogurt Review / Comparison (Gluten-Free): Voskos vs. Liberte

[by Kate — guest gluten-free blog author

GLUTEN-FREE Fig-Flavor Yogurts
Comparison and Review

I must admit that I am a huge fan of figs — I’ve paired fresh ones with goat cheese, poblano peppers, and corn tortillas to make some tasty Quesadillas, I eat them dried, and I love fig flavored yogurt.  Although I enjoy figs in many capacities, as it happens, today I want to talk about that joyous occasion when figs meet my favorite breakfast food, yogurt!


GLUTEN-FREE / FULL-CREAM Liberté Yogurt

I’ve eaten my fair share of Liberte brand Mediterranee Plum and Fig yogurt and their now discontinued Fig and Walnut yogurt.  I had imagined that Liberte, with its extensive line of exotically flavored and ever satisfying flavors, was my only choice for fig flavored yogurt.  But, lone behold, the fig is far more pervasive than I had imagined!


[Mike's Comments]
I have consumed the gluten-free Liberte Plum and Fig yogurt a few times. Quite simply: it is fantastic!  This is one of the best tasting yogurts I have ever had, and it is seriously creamy, rich, and satisfying with a wonderfully balanced and pleasing combination of flavors that come together for near-perfection — I enjoy it more than most ice cream.  This yogurt gives me a great "baseline" by which to compare others, and I am looking forward to trying the Voskos fat-free version after reading Kate's review (since, a fat-free version with fantastic qualities will spare me the cholesterol and calories while still getting my healthy diet probiotics!)


And, now back to her impressions of the Voskos yogurts...


GLUTEN-FREE / FAT-FREE Voskos Greek Yogurt

On an unexpected trip to Whole Foods Market I found myself ogling another variety of fig yogurt, Voskos brand Exotic Fig Greek Yogurt.  While Liberte’s Plum and Fig yogurt has 12grams of fat and 270calories in just one tiny little 6oz  yogurt cup, Vosko’s Exotic Fig yogurt is a non-fat Greek-style yogurt with only 160calories.  Aside from fat content and calorie count, Vosko’s Exotic Fig yogurt also beats out Liberte’s yogurt by having 11grams of protein compared with Liberte’s 6grams, while containing 4% Iron to Liberte’s 0%.

Price and Taste-Test Results

Now, to put it plainly, it’s a bit painful to pay nearly $1.50 for 5.3oz of yogurt, but what a delicious 5.3oz they were!  I absolutely loved the flavor of Vosko’s non-fat, Greek-style fig yogurt!  The yogurt had a distinctly fresh, figgy flavor and the texture enhanced the feeling that I was eating a fresh fig by by incorporating actual fig seeds — something which the Liberte fig yogurt does not do — lending the yogurt that mildly crunchy texture of an actual fig.

Voskos Exotic Fig yogurt felt light and creamy on the palate which, combined with the luxuriant flavor of the fig, made me feel more like I was eating a dessert than a breakfast food with a negligible calorie count and no fat!


GLUTEN-FREE Labeling

Not only is Vosko’s Exotic Fig flavored yogurt tasty as all heck, but their website clearly states that all of their products are gluten-free.  I had wondered if this would be the case because there is no indication that the product is certified gluten-free on the packaging itself, but the ingredient list showed no signs of gluten (which is not always a clear indication that there actually is no gluten, unfortunately).  I was happy, then, when I came home and checked Voskos website and saw clearly stated in the Voskos Yogurt Frequently Asked Questions section that their products are gluten-free clearly.

Now, if only they would just put that gluten-free label directly on their products so we can feel good buying in the moment, rather than having to constantly double-check!

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