Breyers adds probiotics to its line of yogurts

Breyers Light! Probiotic Plus Yogurt. Blueberry 'n Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake, Lemon Chiffon, Key Lime Pie, Peaches 'n Cream, Classic Strawberry, Apple Cinnamon, Black Cherry Jubilee, Cherry Vanilla, Raspberry/Cream and Strawberry/Banana. 50 to 99 cents per 8-ounce cup.

Bonnie: Earlier this year we reviewed Dannon's Activia, the first national yogurt with added probiotics, substances that contain beneficial live microorganisms. Dannon says Activia can help improve digestive transit when eaten daily. Now Breyers has introduced a line of light yogurts that also contains probiotics. Breyers says that its friendly bacteria may aid digestion and boost immunity.

Both yogurts are artificially sweetened, something I find odd, as I would believe that most folks into healthful foods would prefer all-natural ingredients. Breyers is sweetened with both aspartame and acesulfame potassium, which has a horrid aftertaste. Activia, which is sweetened with both sugar and Sucralose, tastes better.

Remember that most yogurts contain beneficial live active cultures (a k a bacteria) and calcium. As someone without digestive tract issues, I prefer naturally sweetened yogurts without probiotics to an artificially sweetened yogurt with them.

Carolyn: Breyers has long been a favorite of people who don't like yogurt's tangy taste and curdled looks. That's because Breyers yogurt has always had a fairly thick, uniform texture, with real fruit pieces and a hefty portion of sugar (or sugar substitute) so that it's quite sweet. (How sweet? Another one of its sub-lines is a full-calorie yogurt based on Creme Savers candy.)

Breyers is also one of the few yogurts to come in 8-ounce cups (Colombo is another), while still being priced comparably to competitors' 6-ounce cups. The main problem, up until now, was finding it in stores.

Breyers' strategy for dealing with this problem was to pump up the same sweet, fruit-filled yogurt I've always loved with probiotics, Vitamins A & D and calcium.

Here's hoping this makes stores as eager to carry it as I am to eat it.

Buitoni Bruschetta. Classic, and Tuscan. $3.99 per 10.5-ounce refrigerated, resealable container.

Bonnie: Traditional bruschetta is simply toasted bread that's brushed with olive oil, rubbed with garlic and served warm. Recently it's morphed into toasted bread with toppings, including diced tomatoes and basil.