Taste Test
This is one of the best dairy-free spreads I have yet to try! It has a cheddar-y taste, spreads well and doesn’t require assembly. It is thick, but not too rich and I cannot help but spread on a second thick layer in a few more of my crackers. I also used the cheddar as a substitute for the traditional “Mac’ n’ Cheese” recipe. It retained a nice silky texture and even complemented the broccoli that I added to my dairy-free “Mac’ n’ Cheese”. While the taste is better than most soy products, I can still taste a little of the soy flavour. This after-taste may be off-putting for some, especially those not used to soy products. I also have to make comment about the salty-ness of the product. Although I found the level of salt to be perfect, it might be too salty for those accustomed to low sodium foods.
The Verdict: A great and successful attempt to accommodate dairy allergies. But, it looses a few points for the after-soy flavour. I give this a 3.5 out of 5.
The Nutritional Test
Even though this product is made from soy, don’t be fooled - it is still high in fat! In fact, the calories from fat in Yoso’s dip are about the same as in regular cheddar cheese. However, I can’t completely write off Yoso based on this fact because there is a key difference between Yoso and cheddar’s fat content. The calories from fat in regular cheese mostly come from the bad fats or saturated fats. The calories from fat in Yoso’s product, on the other hand, are mostly from the good fat or monosaturated fats. While this may be true, the remaining ingredients, however, make this product difficult to recommend. First, Yoso is sweetened with dextrose, which is a refined corn sugar and I’m simply not a fan of its use in any product. But, given the low carbohydrate content of the Yoso, I doubt that there is too much to be overly concerned. What I am concerned about, however, is the fact that it contains a preservative (sodium citrate). While this preservative has no known side effects, I prefer my foods as natural as possible. Yoso’s Cheddar Cheese is also loosing nutritional points because the soy, while organic, isn’t non-GMO. Finally, the sodium levels are higher than in regular cheddar cheese!
The Verdict: This product scores a 1.5 out of 5. While it gets points for being made of good fats and organic soybeans, it looses big time for using preservatives, having a high sodium count and for not using non-GMO soybeans.
Overall Verdict
This product scored high on its taste, but it lost points for its nutritional content and gets a total score of 5 out of 10. If you aren’t concerned about non-GMO soybeans, preservatives or high sodium counts, this spread may be a dairy-free option for you…too bad because I really liked it in my “Mac’ n’ Cheese”!