What is a 'processed' food?
Before diving into Yeo Valley, it's essential to understand the definition of 'processed' food. The term covers a broad spectrum, from simple steps like washing and cutting to complex manufacturing. Foods are often categorised using systems like the NOVA classification, which distinguishes between minimally processed, processed, and ultra-processed foods. Minimally processed foods include items like milk, frozen vegetables, or dried fruits, which have been altered to make them edible or preserve them without substantially changing their natural state. Ultra-processed foods, by contrast, contain ingredients you wouldn't find in a home kitchen and are heavily altered from their raw form.
The Yeo Valley approach to processing
Yeo Valley is an organic brand, and its processing methods are strictly regulated by the Soil Association. This organic certification prohibits the use of artificial additives, sweeteners, and flavours, which are common in many ultra-processed foods. However, processing is still a necessary part of converting fresh milk into a safe, shelf-stable product like yogurt or cheese. Yeo Valley themselves have explained that different products undergo different levels of processing, but all adhere to their commitment to organic principles.
Minimal Processing: Milk, Natural Yogurt, and Kefir
For their most basic products, the processing is kept to a minimum. Organic milk is pasteurised—a necessary step to make it safe for consumption. Natural yogurts are made by adding live cultures to pasteurised milk, which ferments the lactose into lactic acid, thickening the milk into yogurt. The natural yogurt contains just milk and these live cultures. Similarly, their plain kefir is a fermented milk product created using a natural process. These products fall into the minimally processed category, which is a common and accepted level of processing for dairy.
More Involved Processing: Flavoured Yogurts, Butter, and Cheese
Other items in the Yeo Valley range require a few more processing steps. Flavoured yogurts, for example, have organic fruit purées added to them. While this involves more handling than the natural yogurt, it remains within the strict organic guidelines that forbid the artificial sweeteners and emulsifiers found in ultra-processed products. Likewise, butter and cheese involve necessary processing—butter-making separates fat from milk and cheese production is a process of preserving milk—but still only contain a few extra ingredients like salt.
How a pot of Yeo Valley Yogurt is made
To illustrate the process further, let's look at the production journey of Yeo Valley yogurt, from farm to pot:
- Collection and cooling: Fresh organic milk is collected from the farms and immediately cooled to 3°C to maintain its quality.
- Transportation: The cooled milk is transported in refrigerated trucks to the factory in Somerset.
- Blending: The milk is blended with other ingredients like cream or skimmed milk powder, depending on the recipe.
- Pasteurisation: The blend is heated to 98°C for around three minutes to make it food-safe.
- Culturing: Good, live bacteria cultures are added to the cooled, pasteurised blend, which then ferments the milk.
- Flavouring: For flavoured yogurts, organic fruit purées are added after the fermentation process.
Yeo Valley vs. Ultra-Processed Foods
Understanding the distinction is key. Ultra-processed foods often contain a long list of ingredients designed to mimic natural flavours, textures, and appearances, including artificial sweeteners and stabilisers. Yeo Valley's organic products, on the other hand, use fewer, higher-quality ingredients and rely on natural processes like fermentation. The certification by the Soil Association ensures that every step adheres to these cleaner standards, prohibiting many of the additives that would move a product into the ultra-processed category.
| Feature | Yeo Valley Natural Yogurt | Typical Ultra-Processed Yogurt |
|---|---|---|
| Processing Level | Minimally processed (pasteurisation, fermentation) | Highly processed (multiple steps, ingredient manipulation) |
| Key Ingredients | Organic milk, live cultures | Milk solids, sugar, flavourings, thickeners, emulsifiers |
| Sweeteners | Lactose (natural milk sugar) only | Refined sugar, artificial sweeteners |
| Additives | None added | Emulsifiers, stabilisers, artificial colours and flavours |
| Certification | Certified Organic by the Soil Association | Often none or standard food safety certifications |
Conclusion
While some level of processing is inherent in all manufactured food, Yeo Valley's products are not ultra-processed. Their organic milk and natural yogurts are minimally processed, undergoing only essential steps like pasteurisation and fermentation. The flavoured versions and other dairy products like butter and cheese involve more processing, but still operate under the strict regulations of organic certification, which bans many of the artificial additives associated with unhealthy ultra-processed foods. Ultimately, the level of processing in Yeo Valley products is transparent, natural, and far removed from the ultra-processed items often criticised in dietary health discussions. For those seeking more clarity on processed foods in general, the Yeo Valley website offers some helpful context and information Yeo Valley Ultra-Processed Foods Explanation.
