Stonyfield Yogurts In #6 Plastic?!

Many of you have commented on the Stonyfield Yogurt giveaway post that you agree with me about the #6 plastic used to package the little individual YoMomma and YoBaby yogurts: it's bad news. I'm going to repost the info I received (from a Stonyfield PR person) on the #6 polystyrene used in the containers for the smaller YoBaby products here just in case some readers missed the discussion. The lowdown is that #6 may leach styrene and you're going to want to avoid it:

"First, none of our packaging contains BPA, the chemical currently in the news and which is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins.

As for our use of polystyrene #6, we hope you'll be reassured to learn that #6 containers are considered safe for food use by the both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Union (EU). The FDA requires the styrene content of the packaging be less than 5,000 parts per million (ppm). The styrene content in Stonyfield Farm's polystyrene packaging does not exceed 400 ppm.

Because the use of any plastic can have an adverse effect on the environment, we continuously search for packaging materials with lower environmental impacts. For now, we believe the best option for our small cups is polystyrene since it allows us to reduce the overall amount of packaging material we use - less packaging means less consumption of resources, less pollution and less solid waste."

I'm (re)posting this here in case someone read only the original post, not subsequent updates.

The mention of BPA is puzzling, since it's not at issue here. But most health info I've seen (Green Guide, Breast Cancer Fund) says to avoid #6 plastic -- even if it's safe to eat out of (which is debatable - see below), it's not recyclable and I'll bet the manufacturing process is no great shakes. I've posted about plastic health concerns before if you want more info about BPA and general guides to safer plastic. Here's the Green Guide info on #6:

"Extruded polystyrene (#6 PS; commonly known as Styrofoam) is used in take-out containers and cups, and non-extruded PS is used in clear disposable takeout containers, disposable plastic cutlery and cups. Both forms of PS can leach styrene into food; styrene is considered a possible human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It may also disrupt hormones or affect reproduction."

Here's the Breast Cancer Fund on #6: "PLASTIC #6: Polystyrene (PS)
• Common uses: packaging pellets or Styrofoam peanuts, cups, plastic tableware, meat trays, to-go clam shell containers, egg cartons, shipping blocks
• Many shipping/packaging stores will accept polystyrene peanuts and other packaging materials for reuse. Cups, meat trays and other containers used for food are rarely accepted for recycling. Look for alternatives whenever possible."

Guess we all need to get on that making-our-own-yogurt kick. I already called my dad and got his recipe for making my own in the closet (I will post an update to let you know how it goes!). At the very least, we should get yogurt in the big tubs (they're in #5, which is a supposedly safer plastic).

Another takeaway? Most eco-swag is, in fact, junk. And there may be no such thing as a (safe) free lunch.

Yours in toxin fatigue,


*Plastic fruit photo courtesy of Morgan Noguellou at sxc.
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Free Mom/Baby Organic Yogurt!

So, I usually ignore the emails for strange shwag and product reviews that have been coming into my MamaBird inbox. But I love Stonyfield Farm, I think they have a conscience, and they want to give you free yogurt in exchange for your firstborn's palate getting you to taste their new plain yogurt/fish oil/probiotics blends. Mmmm! Fish and fermentation!

As I told their PR person, "a)I don't do many product reviews, b)my kids and I are beyond your target market (no more kids for me, no more baby food for them!), and c)I am sort of heading down the make-my-own-yogurt, minimize-packaging road. That said, I will happily give the coupons away, and I think the fact that Stonyfield is making a plain YoBaby is a genius move. My daughter sucked down the peach YoBaby drinks like they were going out of style but I always wished (and many on parenting boards I frequent echoed this thought) that they had less sugar. For awhile I actually cut them with kefir...." And, because I really can never leave well enough alone, I asked: "Is the "maternity" yogurt different in some way from other Stonyfield products? I'm curious - are the probiotics/folic acid, DHA et al added in just to the YoMommy or to all Stonyfield Farms yogurts?"

Their (very nice) PR flack's response: "Glad to hear you enjoy Stonyfield and it is very cool to hear the steps that you are taking to minimize the family's package consumption. In answer to your question about the Yo Mommy yogurt, the folic acid has been added and is not in other Stonyfield yogurts and so has the DHA. The DHA is from anchovy and sardine fish oils - sounds very yucky but you can't taste it :) The probiotics, however, are in all Stonyfield yogurt products.

Here's the information about the probiotics in our yogurt:

By definition, yogurt must include the starter cultures Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Other major-brand yogurts include one or two additional cultures. But we add four more probiotic cultures to all our yogurts: L. acidophilus, Bifidus, L. casei, and L. rhamnosus. Our yogurt provides a probiotic powerhouse in every serving."

I'm all for probiotics (hotlink to Surely You Nest post on that topic). For the record, I think they need to do more research and the jury's still out on which strains work best with which tummies (they now think probiotics may vary in efficacy depending on the person's gut. Would make sense). But! These free yogurts are perfectly packaged to send to daycare, take outside for a picnic, or take to work in your lunch. Unless you are making your own and storing it in plastic jars in which case by all means take a pass. And by the way? Sardines and anchovies? Not at *all* yucky. (Sorry, *katydidnot*...dim sum heretic....)

Leave a comment if you want a coupon for a free 6-pack of YoMommy organic yogurt or YoBaby yogurt (which now comes in plain!). If there are lots of comments, I will use a random number generator named EGirl to figure out winners. Submit your comment by COB EST on Friday, April 18th and I'll announce the winners Monday (I got 5 of each so there will be 10 winners. And no, I did not receive a dime for this shameless promotion of eco-shwag for my devoted readers).

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