Yoghurt

Spelling differences

Yoghurt is the standard spelling in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Yogurt dominates in the United States and Canada. Yoghourt is an older variant still seen on European-imported labels. All refer to the same fermented dairy product. Recipes and food-science papers use them interchangeably.

Style and texture variation

UK and Commonwealth supermarkets tend to feature a wider range of styles:

• Set yoghurt — fermented in the pot, with a delicate spoonable body.
• Greek-style — strained, thicker, higher protein.
• Bio-live — labelled to highlight active cultures (often Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium).
• Drinking yoghurt — thinner, often sweetened.

In British cooking

Plain yoghurt features in Indian-influenced British cooking (raitas, marinades for tandoori dishes), in Greek-influenced dips like tzatziki, and as a lighter alternative to cream in sauces and baked goods. Sheep’s-milk and goat’s-milk yoghurts have a small but devoted artisan following.

A note on labels

UK food labelling permits “yoghurt” only for products containing live bacterial cultures at point of sale. Heat-treated yoghurts that have been pasteurized after fermentation must be labelled differently, since the live-culture claim no longer applies.