Two Cups of Yogurt a Day Can Keep the Diabetes Away?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the claim that “yogurt consumption reduces the risk of diabetes” to be labeled on related products.

According to foreign media reports including Reuters on the 1st (local time), the FDA has granted partial approval to the “Qualified Health Claims (QHC)” petition filed by French food company Danone for its yogurt products.

This decision now allows yogurt manufacturers to label their products with a statement that says regular consumption of at least 2 cups of yogurt per week can reduce the risk of diabetes (Type 2 diabetes).

QHC is a system that allows food companies to introduce the fact that a certain food or ingredient has been partially recognized to be effective in preventing certain diseases in advertisements or on packaging.

However, this approval falls below the standard of “Authorized Health Claims (AHC)”, which are permitted when efficacy has been conclusively demonstrated. Therefore, yogurt companies should avoid definitive expressions to explain the relationship between yogurt consumption and diabetes, and must also specify related evidence.

In 2018, Danone submitted a QHC petition asking to label its products as scientific evidence that yogurt reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Previous studies have suggested the beneficial effects of yogurt on diabetes, with the FDA reviewing 117 relevant studies. In 2014, a team led by Professor Frank Hu of the Department of Public Health at Harvard University in the United States published in the international academic journal Circulation by the American Heart Association (AHA) that the more yogurt one consumes, the higher the chance of preventing the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

The study tracked the eating habits of about 200,000 people. Consuming about 28g (two spoons) of yogurt a day reduced the likelihood of Type 2 diabetes by 18%, or about one-fifth.

The FDA added, “Yogurt with a significant amount of sugar has no nutritional value and only high calories.” They recommended exercising caution when labeling diabetes-related phrases on high-sugar yogurt.