TCBY, which stands for The Country's Best Yogurt, was created to provide a nutritious and healthy dessert that tasted like ice cream without ice cream's sugar and fat. Filled with vitamins and minerals important for overall good health, TCBY yogurt can also be a good way to enjoy a treat without adding inches to your waistline.
Identification
Yogurt is made by adding two types of bacterial cultures -- Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus -- to warm milk, where they convert the sugar in the milk to a distinctive-tasting lactic acid. In 1985, the Food and Drug Administration established three criteria that define yogurt: the main ingredient must be mammal's milk; the fermenting agents of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus must be used; and it must be made by the process of milk fermentation. Frozen yogurt isn't subject to federal composition standards and not all yogurt brands contain the live and active bacterial cultures.
History
TCBY was founded by Frank and Georgia Hickingbotham in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1981, when they opened their first store, hoping to take advantage of Americans' interest in healthier lifestyles. The company was sold to Mrs. Fields Famous Brands in 2000 and currently has 900 stores with estimated annual revenue of $10 million worldwide.
Nutrition
A 1/2 cup serving of the basic vanilla flavor of TCBY frozen yogurt has 120 calories, 2 g of fat, 13 g of sugar, 23 g of carbohydrates, 4 g of protein and 3 g of fiber, according to TCBY. It also has 10 percent of your Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin A, 20 percent of the RDA of calcium, 2 percent RDA of vitamin C and 20 percent of your RDA of vitamin D. However, one "small" cup or cone of TCBY vanilla is actually 2.15 servings.
Benefits
According to the National Yogurt Association, researchers are studying the live and active cultures in yogurt for their effects in preventing gastrointestinal infections, boosting the body's immune system, fighting cancer and preventing osteoporosis. Many people who are lactose intolerant may also be able to consume yogurt and frozen yogurt without any side effects. Dr. William Sears, associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, adds that yogurt promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the colon, improves the bioavailability of other nutrients and can help decrease yeast infections.
Considerations
Because TCBY has almost three dozen different flavors of frozen yogurt with extra ingredients such as fruit, coffee, chocolate, eggs, nuts and spices, the nutritional value for each flavor will vary. All TCBY flavors are low-fat and low-calorie, but certain flavors will increase the fat, cholesterol and sodium levels or decrease the fiber and vitamin content. The National Yogurt Association, NYA, has established a "Live & Active Cultures," or LAC, seal program for all yogurt manufacturers, which requires frozen yogurt products to contain 10 million cultures per gram in order to be able to use the seal on their products. Not all frozen yogurts adhere to these standards, but TCBY contains seven active probiotics and does measure up to the LAC requirements.
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