But Is It Skyr?

A new “skyr” product is being produced overseas, and its ingredients call into question what defines “skyr”.

Vísir reports that Baltimore-based company B’more Organic is selling a product they call a “skyr smoothie”. This product has been around for some time now, and sold primarily in the mid-Atlantic region of the US.

In terms of whether it contains skyr, a look at the ingredients shows that the “skyr” base is made from pasteurised organic skim milk that has been cultured with the bacteria Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, which is what essentially constitutes skyr, although it is unknown whether rennet was used in the production, as per tradition.

The situation is reminiscent of recent news that Iceland Dairies is trying to get Swedish company Arla to stop using the word “skyr” to describe one line of its products. “Skyr” is a registered trademark in both Finland and Norway, but not in Sweden, nor in the United States.

It should also be noted that feta cheese has a very strict designation by European regulations which limits the name “feta” within the European Union to brined cheese made exclusively of sheep’s or goat’s milk in Greece. Iceland Dairies sells a product called “feta”, but the ingredients of the Icelandic version do not indicate whether or if they follow these designations.