I work in a grocery store and people are always asking "Do you have any probiotic yogurt?" I'd always thought that the cultures in yogurt made it probiotic but lately I've been hearing a lot of people say that if it doesn't specifically say "probiotic" (like that activia yogurt and stuff) that it means its not probiotic. So now I'm wondering if I've been wrong all along or what? Since most if not all yogurt is cultured is it the different cultures in it that make one distinct from another?

The sugar and additives make most yogurts not really probiotic even when they advertise probiotic.
Stonyfield Farm is probiotic and any yogurt that says organic is probiotic.
Basically the sugar in sweetened yogurt counteracts the benefits of the probiotics it may contain.

According to WHO, probiotics are "live microorganisms, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host."

Many brands of yogurt claim to have live, active cultures. I believe the difference between them and the ones labeled probiotic is the amount of active cultures in the product. Probiotic yogurt contains enough to have a health benefit rather than only an advertising benefit.

Check out the following link for more information.

USProbiotics.org

OK. That makes more sense now.

Probiotic are live microorganism which provide a lot of health benefits. Basically they are supplements of live bacteria or yeast. The healthiest yogurt will contain active/live cultures. So check the labels it will state that"Live/active cultures", To learn what specific active cultures your yogurt contain, again ck. The label, such as L.bulgaricus, bififobacterium, S. thermophilus, or the more popular/common one bififus regularis.

So now you're saying that there just has to be live cultures? Does that mean that which cultures or the amount of cultures present doesn't matter?

Yes all yogurt is different, the best yogurt is full fat plain organic yogurt! The more sugar the less beneficial, however I do like the activia bifidus regularis, I think they use fructose vs. refined sugar which doesn't cause the body to produce insulin so diabetics can have it, but check the label before directing anyone over there!

I am a diet tech @ a hospital... if it says LIVE active cultures - the ? How much is put into each yogurt? & the FDA does not have to regulate HOW MUCH. I have heard that the Stoneyfield farm yogurt actually specifies HOW much so that is a good one... other than that choose ones w/ less sugar & you will get greater benefits. Obviously, natural yogurt (organic) is better BUT eating yogurt in general is good for your health. Add fiber to a probiotic (like BENEFIBER) & you will get the added benefit because fiber feeds on probiotics :) Hope this helps!