From Fountain of Youth to Fruit on the Bottom: How Yoghurt Finally Made it Big in America

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Yoghurt is the most diverse section of the dairy case: from Icelandic skyr to creamy Australian, and fruity French Yoplait to full-fat Greek. With something to suit every palate, plus a dose of microbes to support healthy digestion, yoghurt is a staple food in the US, hero of a million smoothies, berry bowls, and snack breaks every day. Which is why it's pretty weird that, until about 50 years ago, most Americans had no idea what it was. This episode, we've got the story of the microbial miracle (and ants?) that gave us yoghurt, as well as the secret connection between those heat-loving bacteria and the evolution of lactose tolerance. Plus, for most of history, yoghurt was wildly popular in large parts of the world—the Middle East, the Balkans, Caucasus, much of Asia, and the Indian subcontinent—and totally unknown elsewhere. Even the promise that yoghurt would cure old age, made by a Nobel prize-winning scientist, couldn't persuade Americans to eat it. So how did yoghurt finally capture the hearts of Americans? Listen in now for the little-known story of our curious relationship with this creamy concoction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Yogurt is a miracle.
0:05.7	It's the creamy result of when you leave milk out for too long and josh it up a little bit.
0:12.9	I think yogurt is like one of the dreamiest substances that we have to eat in existence.
0:19.7	I mean, I like yogurt fine, but we live in a world with chocolate.
0:24.6	Still, I'm definitely not here to diss it.
0:26.9	Yogurt is an extremely popular substance, and rightly so.
0:30.7	There's fruity yogurt, plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, drinkable yogurt, Icelandic yogurt,
0:35.0	frozen yogurt. The list goes on and on.
0:36.8	So who invented this
0:38.5	dreamy, infinitely versatile food? Where did it come from? Fortunately, Cynthia, you are in an
0:44.2	episode of Gastropod, the podcast that loves to get to the bottom of exactly these kinds of
0:49.6	questions. So let's have a look at yogurt through the lens of science and history. I am, of course, Nicola Twilly.
0:56.1	And I'm Cynthia Graber. And if you happen to catch any ads for yogurt, it seems like it'll
1:00.1	solve all of your health woes. Where did that come from? How did this idea start that it's like this
1:04.5	elixir that will bestow immortality? The other thing is, like you said, there's a million different
1:10.2	kinds.
1:13.8	The yogurt aisle stretches half the length of the store.
1:22.4	But what's the difference between all the different yogurts, like Greek or Australian or Icelandic or even your basic Danin or Yoplai?
1:25.7	All this plus yogurt made with the help of some friendly ants.
1:27.6	Yes, ants, the insect kind.
1:31.5	This episode was supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the public understanding of science, technology, and economics, and by the Burroughs Welcome Fund for
1:35.4	our coverage of biomedical research.
	...

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