Plant-based alternatives must not be labelled as ‘yoghurt’; this is prohibited by EU Regulation (EEC) No. 1898/87 because yoghurt is defined as a dairy product (udder product) and plant-based drinks of all kinds are not dairy products. ‘Veggieghurts’ are therefore technical products that are often based on food trickery:
The lactic acid bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus acidophilus can convert the sugar in plant drinks, so fermentation is successful. However, the consistency of ‘veggie yoghurt’ is very runny because the protein content is generally very low and the ideal protein, which binds a lot of water and can therefore form the micelles, is completely missing. Industrially, ‘soy yoghurt’ is therefore provided with all kinds of additives (thickeners, sugar, stabilisers, etc.), which ultimately has nothing to do with real yoghurt.