Hyperprotein foods continue to establish themselves among Italian consumers. The claim nutritional claims related to ‘proteins’ had already emerged as the phenomenon of the year 2021, registering a substantial growth (+6.4%) on sales of products that referred to them on the label.
A brief market survey in the categories of yogurt, milk-based desserts and fresh cheeses shows us 14 hyperprotein products, where the amount of protein (in grams per serving) is expressed on the front of the package.
Yogurt, desserts and hyperprotein cheeses
The nutritional profiles of the selected foods are compared referring once to portions, instead of the usual 100 g. Precisely because their labels report the amount of protein per serving in large letters.
The analysis also considers the presence of food additives, with particular attention to sweeteners used as alternatives to sugars.
Sweetener additives
Almost all of the hyperprotein milk-based products contain sweeteners. Except for fresh cheeses, as well as a small minority of yogurts (1 in 3) and desserts (1 in 8).
Sweeteners are associated with alterations of the microbiota and regulation of blood glucose levels. Some scientific studies also associate the intake of non-caloric sweeteners with weight gain, a paradoxical effect that deserves further investigation.
Other food additives
Other additives food additives almost ubiquitous – in the 14 analyzed hyperprotein yogurts, desserts and cheeses – are not without contraindications, although their use is authorized in the EU:
- emulsifiers and thickeners (carrageenan, carboxymethylcellulose, polysorbate-80, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids etc.) have been identified, through studies in vitro and on animals, as possible promoters of inflammatory bowel diseases,
- phosphates (E 339), used by Cameo as stabilizers, are in turn the subject of attention. Indeed, a generalized increase in phosphate levels in the blood vessel walls of the population has been found, which is associated with a higher cardiovascular risk.
hyperprotein yoghurts
True yogurts, thus qualified on the label in the product denomination, are still few. In our survey, we identified three.
Danone and Müller add sweeteners and thickening additives. Müller also uses synthetic flavors and a greater number of additives due to a preparation with chocolate and hazelnuts that provides quite a few calories, despite the use of sweeteners.
Mila stands out favorably with a yogurt that offers the highest amount of protein per cup (16g), without adding additives or sweeteners. A clean label, finally.
Fermented milks and protein desserts
The denomination of the 9 selected products ranges from dessert to snack to pudding. Then the anglophones appear pudding e porridge, among others.
The recipe is always based on milk and milk proteins. Some products also contain preparations based on fruit, cereals, chocolate.
The proteins range from 12 to over 20 grams per cup, whose quantity in turn is between 140 and 200 grams.
In this category there are no synthetic flavors (defined ‘flavors’), in the ingredient list of the examined products.
Sweeteners are instead always present. Except for the porridge of Milk, where sugar is instead present.
Only two products – Yogo Pro by Coop and Pro High Protein Porridge with Yogurt by the Austrian Milk – are free from other additives, especially emulsifiers.
Fats range from absolute zero to 3.4g per cup.
Hyperprotein fresh cheeses
The three fresh cheeses the analyzed hyperproteic ones are free of sweeteners and synthetic flavors (‘flavors’).
Philadelphia Benessere Protein has the smallest package (175g) but contains triple the saturated fats. It is also the only cheese to add an additive, carob bean gum (E 419), associated with allergic reactions (mainly asthma and rhinitis) and possible intestinal discomfort (bloating, flatulence, laxative effect) in case of high intake.
The proteins range between 19 and 28 grams per jar.
The salt instead stands out at 1.76 and 1.49 grams, respectively, in Milk and Philadelphia. An excessive dose, considering the WHO recommendation not to exceed 5 g per day.
Professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of journalistic investigations on food, she published the volume 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
