Horizon Organic, the US dairy business owned by dairy giant Dean Foods, has launched a natural yoghurt for toddlers – but has run into criticism from organic research group The Cornucopia Institute.
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Little Blends, a “great-tasting natural yogurt with both fruits and vegetables”, has joined the Horizon portfolio in a bid to tap into growing demand for natural products in the US.
The yoghurts are sold in Banana Sweet Potato, Strawberry Carrot and Apple Butternut Squash flavours and a four-pack retails at a suggested price of US$3.49.
However, Cornucopia, a vocal critic of Dean Foods’ organic business, claimed the company would “sooner or later” switch from organic milk to conventional milk for cost reasons and argued many consumers would not notice the change.
“Surprisingly, the labels lists “organic” milk as the first ingredient. Despite the fact that they are using conventional fruits and vegetables, some of which, like strawberries, have been tested and proven to be contaminated with the highest residue levels of agrichemicals, the organic milk component is a good thing,” the institute’s Mark Kastel said.
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By GlobalData“However, we want to emphasise that these products are still labeled “natural” and as soon as the surplus of organic milk subsides, either by the market picking up or Dean releasing more and more of their farmers, it is unlikely in our opinion that they will continue to utilise organic milk.”
Kastel claimed the word ‘organic’ only appears “in the fine print of the ingredient listing”, which would, he asserted, make it easier for Horizon to switch to conventional milk without catching the attention of consumers.
“It is quite possible that they don’t want to highlight the organic portion because we are looking at a “bait and switch” in the making,” Kastel said. “Sooner or later they will quite likely abandon the organic milk (for cost saving reasons) in the natural yogurt and other products after they have established the consumer market for the product. They are smart enough and cynical enough to realize that many, many consumers don’t regularly examine the labels of the products they buy.”
Officials at Dean had not returned a request for comment as just-food went to press.
