Fro-Yo Is Tasty, But Is it Good for You?

Fro-Yo Is Tasty, But Is it Good for You?

It hardly seems possible that yet another funky frozen yogurt shop could open its doors. Especially when it's practically spitting distance from a fresh competitor drawing droves of devotees.

But the latest incarnation of the frozen yogurt trend seems to defy standard business logic. These shops, where the decor of bright, happy hues is matched only by the spray of toppingsâ€"kiwi! Fruity Pebbles! something random and chewy!â€" has whet consumers' appetites for indulgent fun. Especially when that fun is packaged in a way that promises to deliver a yummy, guiltless treat and, in some cases, health benefits like better immunity and digestion.

So, is the new yogurt healthy? Or are we all just lining up for candy like kids on Halloween? Well, that depends.

[See: In Pictures: 10 Healthy Dessertsâ€"and They're Tasty, Too ]

"I think there's a health halo around frozen yogurt," and that's helping to market the trend, says Darren Tristano, executive vice president of the food research and consulting firm Technomic. "I think there's some truth to it," he says, but warned that excessive portions and toppings derail the benefit.

Sticking to reasonable portions is, of course, critical to a healthy diet. And that reasoning clearly applies to the frozen yogurt trend as shops often feature self-serve machines and are accompanied by a smorgasbord of sugary toppings.

Here's the strategy taken by David Katz, a nutrition expert and clinical instructor of medicine at Yale University, when visiting the Peachy Keen fro-yo shop where his daughter works: "I tend to take less yogurt (usually tart or fat-free fruit), and lots of fresh fruit," Katz writes in an email to U.S. News. "If the dose is moderate, [it makes] a nice treatâ€"but overindulgence could certainly come back to haunt you in the mirror!"

Still, the current trend in frozen yogurt, which features tart and so-called "natural" flavors and, now, the wildly popular Greek yogurt, offers some healthier dessert options.

[See: Greek Yogurt Vs. Regular Yogurt: Which Is More Healthful?]

In fact, today's frozen yogurt trend is something of a reclamation. Rather than the sweet fro-yo of 20 years ago, which aimed to mimic ice cream, "what you're seeing right now is more about the yogurtâ€"a product that is focused on delivering that tart yogurt flavor, and it's also about a product that's healthier," says Elise Cortina Fennig, spokesperson for the National Yogurt Association.

Whatever it is, it's working. Between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2011, the number of retail frozen yogurt shops in this country climbed from 3,624 to 4,765â€"a 31 percent spike. According to Tristano, sales reported by frozen dessert shops, in general, have hovered at $6 billion per year, but "consumers have just shifted from ice cream to frozen yogurt." Frozen yogurt chains, in fact, have experienced some of the highest growth of any of the chains he tracks.

Novelty accounts for part of the frozen yogurt craze, says Michael Neuwirth, senior director of public relations for The Dannon Company, which now owns YoCream, a market leader. (Neuwirth, incidentally, says he passed two frozen yogurt shops within three blocks of New York's Upper East Side while speaking with U.S. News.) But another factor is economic. Times of high unemployment beget a rise in entrepreneurship, and frozen yogurt shops are largely a band of small businesses, he says.

The range of offerings available in these shops makes any blanket judgment hard to support, except for this oneâ€"that to be called yogurt, Fennig says it must contain two strains of beneficial bacteria, also known as probiotics: streptococcus thermophilus and lactobacillus bulgaricu, which produce lactase, easing digestion for those who are lactose intolerant. Her group is pressing the Food and Drug Administration to codify a standard of identity for yogurt, but until then, it has created its own seal of approval, awarded to frozen yogurt with 10 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacturing, a threshold that offers digestive benefits, Fennig explains. However, she says that most of their approved frozen yogurt shops meet the association's more rigorous requirements for a more potent cup yogurtâ€"at 100 million cultures per gram.