The History of Yogurt
There is evidence that yogurt has been used as a food for at least 5500 years. It possibly originated in the region around Bulgaria where the local name for it means “sour milk” brought about by spontaneous fermentation of naturally occurring bacteria. Interestingly, lactobasillus bulgaricus was named after Bulgaria because it naturally occurs there and is stll used to make yogurt to this day.
For centuries, the entire area around the Mediterranean and Black sea have been eating yogurt of many different varieties and textures. This area extended to cover Egypt, the Middle East and India. It is not difficult to imagine how milk left out in the sun would start fermenting and someone would dip a finger into the thickened milk and have a “eureka” moment.
In 1919 a Jewish businessman living in Barcelona began industrialized production of yogurt called “Danone” which means “Little Daniel” after his son. Later, when this brand expanded to America, it went under the name Dannon which is a yogurt that contains live bacteria and is available all over America today.
Yogurt was first introduced to America in 1929 by an Armenian immigrant family who founded Colombo & Sons Creamery in Andover, Massachusetts using a traditional Armenian recipe. This business was bought by General Mills in 1993, but yogurt is still made at the same location today. You can find more information on this at the Massachusetts History Society and at the Colombo Yogurt website.
In 1947 Dannon introduced yogurt with fruit jam added to the bottom of the container.
In 1950 health guru Gayelord Hauser pushed yogurt into the public consciousness when he published “Look Younger, Live Longer” where he claimed yogurt was a wonder food. As a result, by 1968, sales of yogurt had increased by 500%.
