Cabot Greek Style Yogurt- Please read while not eating

michellelemorgan
michellelemorgan Posts: 184 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For the past two years I've been a huge advocate of cabot greek style low fat vanilla bean yogurt. It is high in protein, low in calories, low in fat and absolutely delicious. I sang Cabot's praises everywhere I went. I ate it for breakfast, dessert, all the time. I'd say I spent around 20-30 dollars a week on the stuff. I doubt it's something I'll do anymore though...

Three days ago I was scarfing down my daily container of the nutritious, delicious stuff and I got a very disgusting taste of fish in the bite I was taking. I noticed something slimy in my mouth and pulled it out... it was pink skin colored on one side and reddish on the other. Clearly, obviously, skin. My husband and I tried to go through different theories of what it could be, but the only thing I can really narrow it down to is either cow skin or human skin.

We kept it around for a day but I couldn't bare to look at it anymore so we tossed it out. I called Cabot today and informed them of what happened but there isn't much they can do since I didn't keep the organic material. I spoke with a man named Joe who was very kind and concerned, then he connected me with his supervisor Gail who, even though I was very kind to her and she was professional on the phone, I felt she didn't really believe me since I didn't keep the skin. She did become a little more kind after I mentioned to her I wasn't trying to profit from this in any way, I just wanted to let them know about it. She also tried to persuade me it was mold or rubber. I'm positive it was neither of those things. My husband rinsed it off and looked at it, it tasted like raw bad fish and looked like skin.

Considering the number of times I've come onto MFP and recommended this yogurt I now feel obligated to let all of you know what happened. It was disgusting and while I'm sure Cabot will correct the mistake somehow... maybe... if Gail believed my story and forwarded the information I gave her to the right people, I feel people who are currently eating this stuff should know about it and just be a little careful if you're eating it over the next couple of weeks and please... if you find anything like this in your yogurt save it and send it to them.
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Replies

  • CupcakesAndRazorblades
    CupcakesAndRazorblades Posts: 227 Member
    EEEEEWWWW.....:sick:
  • Raeontherun
    Raeontherun Posts: 107 Member
    I'm vegan for a reason..... I would have puked!!
  • elleloch
    elleloch Posts: 739 Member
    Holy farking ****e. Glad there is no Greek yogurt in my future today - but it's one of my diets staples :( This is sickening.
  • suzend
    suzend Posts: 155 Member
    gross....there is nothing worse than finding something in your food that should NOT be there.

    :sick:
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Glad I finished eating...
  • clobern
    clobern Posts: 341 Member
    There is always a chance to find something in anything we eat. I won't go in to detail about a lot of things people eat, but not many have died from it (other than eating too much) :D
  • MartialPanda
    MartialPanda Posts: 919 Member
    gagged.....actually just vomited a little.
  • silver_arrow3
    silver_arrow3 Posts: 1,373 Member
    Thankfully I've never seen Cabot products at any store I've ever been to. This story makes me sick to my stomach. Absolutely disgusting.
  • Jchambers1130
    Jchambers1130 Posts: 173 Member
    haha that's awesome! How else do you think it's twice the protein?
  • ncahill77
    ncahill77 Posts: 501 Member
    Are you sure it was fish skin, specifically salmon, it would explain the fish taste and color and honestly i wouldn't be suprised if they used it to beef up the protein.
  • Pixi_Rex
    Pixi_Rex Posts: 1,676 Member
    well as someone who is in Quality Control (not for food - thank god0 i can tell you that they probably are investigating it even without the material you found in your yogurt, because there was obviously a breakdown in their process somewhere and they will want to know where it is.

    You did the right thing by calling - even if they sounded skeptical. You should have kept the debris/material that was in your yogurt even if it was gross as it would have been easier to drill down the process brake somewhere but in anycase they needed to know so good for you.

    And thank you for passing the information along to everyone on the forums its always a good thing to know to watch for stuff like this.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    when-you-were-young-and-heard-someone-curse.gif
  • michellelemorgan
    michellelemorgan Posts: 184 Member
    They would have to add that to the ingredients. The high protein is the result of whey protein that is added which causes the creamy greek yogurt texture. Cabot Greek Style isn't actually greek yogurt it just tastes like it and has the texture of greek yogurt.
  • Jesstruhan
    Jesstruhan Posts: 331 Member
    Nasty. That has to be from some kind of accident at the plant or mold. I've been to yogurt manufacturers (I work for a gourmet foods distributor, dairy and cheese is our specialty, we tour them periodically) and it's definitely not cow's skin. The milk arrives in trucks, tested to heck and back and rejected when something amiss is found. It would have been found immediately. I'm thinking the same things you are but the machinery is so insanely sealed, protected, etc. for yogurt it's really hard for skin to be in there. It is very possible that it's mold, because some dairy will develop a pink mold that takes a skin-like quality, but usually but usually it's at the top of yogurt, not in the middle. Tough to say without the organic material. I'm sorry you found it. It would have put me off of yogurt for a VERY long time. I'm a plain chobani or Fage Greek stir-in kind of girl. I don't like my greek yogurt pre-blended. Now i have another reason not to buy flavored ones!
  • SavvyGurl0528
    SavvyGurl0528 Posts: 228 Member
    OMG, I will now be stirring and straining EVERYTHING I eat for the next few weeks! Ewwwwww!
  • michellelemorgan
    michellelemorgan Posts: 184 Member
    Are you sure it was fish skin, specifically salmon, it would explain the fish taste and color and honestly i wouldn't be suprised if they used it to beef up the protein.

    They would have to add that to the ingredients. The high protein is the result of whey protein that is added which causes the creamy greek yogurt texture. Cabot Greek Style isn't actually greek yogurt it just tastes like it and has the texture of greek yogurt.
  • Brallen1969
    Brallen1969 Posts: 91
    Yeah unfortunately this stuff happens once in awhile...could have been a disgruntled employee..if it tasted fishy I doubt it was human or beef. I hunt and prep my own meet and I have never found any red meat to become "fishy". It is horrible that it happened to you, but I would be more worried about what is in my food at local restaruants than what is in my greek yogurt. Don't let one bad experience keep you from enjoying greek yogurt...change brands.
  • rockymtnlove
    rockymtnlove Posts: 215
    I'm vegan for a reason..... I would have puked!!


    THIS
  • MrsSWW
    MrsSWW Posts: 1,585 Member
    Chances are that where the yoghurt is made that other things will be made too, and some of those might well have skin (like someone else said, maybe salmon?). There is most likely a very normal reason for cross contamination, and I think it's highly unlikely that it was human skin...

    There's only one way to ensure that you know exactly what is in your food, and that's to make it yourself, yup, even yoghurt. Unfortunately the company doesn't have anything other than your story, so it'll be difficult for them to investigate it. Even though you found it repulsive, if you wanted to know the outcome then you should have kept the foreign body (pun intended :tongue: ) and sent it to them, at least then they'd have something to track. Have you at least provided them with the production code off the container?
  • papillon71
    papillon71 Posts: 92 Member
    That's disgusting, they should take that and have it tested to see what it is, reminds me once of finding a weird object with hairs on it in a packet of low fat corn chips, they got sent back to the supplier who went back to the manufacturer and it got tested in a lab, it was a bit of cleaning cloth, complete with cleaning product, fluff and human hairs stuck to it that had been toasted! Gah!
  • CookNLift
    CookNLift Posts: 3,660 Member
    http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Greek-identity-crisis-Cabot-Greek-style-yogurt-is-not-a-yogurt-at-all-claims-plaintiff

    That is disgusting, but I don't think it was human or cow skin but most likely was a mold culture derived from the whey protein fillers that could have solidified and become almost gelatinous, which could resemble skin.

    It could have been that or possibly a piece of fish skin - need to check and see if it is manufactured in a plant that processes fish.

    Here is a full list of ingredients of Cabot:

    Cabot Greek-style Yogurt - Ingredients: Pasteurized milk, cream, Whey protein concentrate, Milk protein concentrate, Live Active Yogurt Cultures: Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus, Vitamins A,C,D,E. --- The fake ingredients are: Whey protein concentrate, Milk protein concentrate
  • michellelemorgan
    michellelemorgan Posts: 184 Member
    Chances are that where the yoghurt is made that other things will be made too, and some of those might well have skin (like someone else said, maybe salmon?). There is most likely a very normal reason for cross contamination, and I think it's highly unlikely that it was human skin...

    There's only one way to ensure that you know exactly what is in your food, and that's to make it yourself, yup, even yoghurt. Unfortunately the company doesn't have anything other than your story, so it'll be difficult for them to investigate it. Even though you found it repulsive, if you wanted to know the outcome then you should have kept the foreign body (pun intended :tongue: ) and sent it to them, at least then they'd have something to track. Have you at least provided them with the production code off the container?

    Yes. I kept the container and gave them all of the information on it.

    From what I understand Cabot only makes cheese and yogurt... the may make other things.. I can't imagine why they might have fish there.

    We do mostly eat things we make ourselves at home... yogurt was one of the few pre-processed things that we buy.
  • emyishardcore
    emyishardcore Posts: 352 Member
    That's awful!
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Regulation/Greek-identity-crisis-Cabot-Greek-style-yogurt-is-not-a-yogurt-at-all-claims-plaintiff

    That is disgusting, but I don't think it was human or cow skin but most likely was a mold culture derived from the whey protein fillers that could have solidified and become almost gelatinous, which could resemble skin.

    It could have been that or possibly a piece of fish skin - need to check and see if it is manufactured in a plant that processes fish.

    Here is a full list of ingredients of Cabot:

    Cabot Greek-style Yogurt - Ingredients: Pasteurized milk, cream, Whey protein concentrate, Milk protein concentrate, Live Active Yogurt Cultures: Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus, Vitamins A,C,D,E. --- The fake ingredients are: Whey protein concentrate, Milk protein concentrate

    exactly the same link I was going to post.

    greek STYLE yogurt =/= greek yogurt.
  • TigressPat
    TigressPat Posts: 722
    well, I guess I have a stronger stomach than most as I kept on eating my yogurt bar (not cabot!) while reading this!

    that said, you should have kept what you found for a number of reasons, most especially if you were worried about other people ingesting it in their yogurt. It's hard if not impossible for Cabot to investigate the batch at al without anyway to identify it, even if they did take you seriously.

    I doubt it was cow skin as there is a long line of things between the cow and the yogurt. I also doubt it was human skin the way you described it.

    possibly it was some sort of gelatinous fermented product, or mold. Often they are pinkish and smell fishy/wormy.

    Sorry for your shocking experience, maybe it means you should be eating slightly less yogurt?
    :wink:

    As for those who are not familiar with Cabot, it's a fairly small scale New England dairy which I doubt gets shipped all that far South or West. I would think being located in Vermont and being smaller than most it would probably have a better quality control ethic than most.
    I've always enjoyed their cheeses!
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    There's no possible way it could be cow skin. The milk is taken using a machine which has pretty small hoses and then run through filters on the way to the bulk tank, from which it is pumped into a tanker truck and taken to the plant. If the filters weren't on, the milk would fail QC due to hairs, dirt, etc. which get sucked in and caught on the filter.

    I'm really going with skin of pink mold.
  • lisab0864
    lisab0864 Posts: 154
    Totally gross!!! Just another reason to avoid factory made/processed foods.
  • Mainebikerchick
    Mainebikerchick Posts: 1,573 Member
    I just threw up in my mouth a little. :sick:
  • lavieboheme1229
    lavieboheme1229 Posts: 448 Member
    Cabot is the bee's knees around here! I've gone on a tour of the facility myself!

    I'm sorry you had this experience, but as a New Englander, I would encourage people to still try Cabot's cheeses and milks. They are the best!
  • Derpina7
    Derpina7 Posts: 552 Member
    :sick:

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