REVIEW: Yoplait Splitz Rainbow Sherbet Low Fat Yogurt

Recently, my TIB boss expressed some concern regarding my arteries and the amount of insanely unhealthy food I eat and review. (I guess he thinks I actually eat healthy food when I’m not doing a review. Ha!)

Assuming he doesn’t want my untimely death on his conscience, I decided to pick up a pack of new Yoplait Splitz low fat yogurt. I chose Rainbow Sherbet, but there’s also Strawberry Sundae and Strawberry Banana Split to choose from. They’re obviously going for a nice “day at the ice cream store” theme, which I approve of wholeheartedly. I chose Rainbow Sherbet for two reasons:

1. I love sherbet, and I used to torture my family every birthday by demanding a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake with white cake and raspberry sherbet. I loved watching them all trying to pretend they enjoyed it, when I knew they were secretly cursing my birth and wishing I had just asked for a chocolate cake like a normal human being.

2. For the first, oh, 22 years of my life, I thought sherbet was spelled and pronounced “sherbert,” and I enjoy sharing embarrassing details like this about myself on the Internet.

I think Marvo will be pleased (and relieved) at my review product choice. It says right on the front of the package that it’s a good source of calcium and vitamin D, plus it has no artificial flavors or sweeteners AND no high fructose corn syrup! With only 90 calories and 1 gram of fat per cup, I don’t think I’ll be keeling over after eating this yogurt. As a matter of fact, it’s probably the healthiest thing I’ll eat all day.

You also may be tickled to know that Yoplait Splitz Rainbow Sherbet meets National Yogurt Association criteria for live and active culture yogurt. I like my yogurt’s culture live, active, and certified by an official-sounding organization. Nothing but the best for this reviewer.

It’s nice to know that there’s no artificial flavors, but I would like to know what the flavors in my Rainbow Sherbet yogurt actually are. If I remember correctly from my “sherbert”-eating days, rainbow sherbet usually contains raspberry and orange flavors, so that’s what I’m expecting here. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be strawberry, because hey, they’ve already got that flavor laying around from the other two flavors of Splitz. I will reserve my right to call Yoplait a bunch of lazy fucks until after I’ve tried it.

I find the idea of orange yogurt a little odd, but considering Yoplait already puts out flavors like Apple Turnover, Black Forest Cake and (oh!) Orange Crème, I shouldn’t be surprised. I remember as a kid having choices like “strawberry on the bottom” and “blueberry on the bottom” and, if I was lucky, “lemon.” Yogurt flavors, much like smart phone technology, have blown past me, leaving me shaking my cane at the diary section and yelling at Crème Caramel to get off my lawn.

Despite my geriatric yogurt palate, I actually liked the orange layer in Splitz Rainbow Sherbet. I attribute this to the fact that it actually tastes like orange sherbet. The orange flavor is strong but not overwhelming, and it’s sweet without being too sweet. You can definitely tell that it’s not loaded with artificial sweeteners because there’s no funky aftertaste. I think yogurt really lends itself to making sherbet-related flavors because both have that bit of tartness that cuts through the sweet, too.

Orange is okay, but, just like when I ate real rainbow sherbet, I was just plowing through it to get to the raspberry layer. As you can see by the picture, the raspberry on the bottom takes up more room than the orange on top, which is just fine by me. And yes, after careful consideration, I have decided that it is, indeed, raspberry, unless the natural tartness of the yogurt is being deceptive. Like the orange layer, the raspberry also brings the sherbet flavor in yogurt form. There’s a reason why yogurt used to be mostly berry-based flavors – they just seem to play well together, and this is no exception. I love me some raspberries, and while Splitz doesn’t exactly emulate the real thing, it comes close enough to satisfy.

All in all, the yogurt is smooth and creamy, and the flavors are robust without being overpowering. I usually prefer salty snacks over sweet, but the use of sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup or other artificial sweeteners gives Yoplait Splitz Rainbow Sherbet a clean sweetness, which was helped out by the tartness of the yogurt. I thought it really did capture the flavors of rainbow sherbet, but to be honest, yogurt has a lot of the same flavor profiles as sherbet, so it wasn’t that hard for Yoplait to skip from point A to point B.

I honestly had a hard time coming up with any complaints about this product, but I managed to find a few. First of all, the cup is a little undersized. At 3.25 ounces per cup, Splitz are almost half the size of a normal Yoplait container of yogurt, which weighs in at 6 ounces. There are more fingers on my hand than spoonfuls of yogurt in the cup.

Second, I decided to try it frozen. The front of the package commanded me to do so, and I always obey the demands of food packaging. After a good overnight freeze, I pulled it out and found it to be rock hard. I expected it to have the consistency of regular frozen yogurt, but it was trying to bend my spoon like it was Neo in The Matrix. Before my silverware became nothing more than a prop for my Strongest Woman Alive performance (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the National Comedy Theatre; no cover for the ladies after 10pm!), I let it thaw in the fridge, and by that I mean I put it in the fridge and forgot about it for six hours. Even after all that time, it was still pretty frozen, but I was able to pry out decent-sized spoonfuls.

My main problem with the frozen product was the texture. It did have a nice, ice crystal-like consistency similar to that of sherbet when it hit my tongue. However, unlike sherbet, which quickly melts into a flavorful liquid, the yogurt immediately went from sherbet mimic to regular, creamy yogurt. The transition was a bit unsettling. The flavors were still good, but I’m not used to food doing a phone booth texture change right inside my mouth. It was disappointing.

While it would be nice to have two great snack products in one cup, at least regular, refrigerated Yoplait Splitz Rainbow Sherbet is a small but tasty (and nutritious!) treat.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 container (3.25 ounces), 90 calories, 5 calories from fat, 1 gram of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, , 140 milligrams of potassium, 17 grams of total carbohydrates, 12 grams of sugars, 3 grams of protein, 10% vitamin A, 15% calcium, 10% vitamin D and 10% phosphorus.)

Item: Yoplait Splitz Rainbow Sherbet Low Fat Yogurt
Price: $1.99 (on sale; normally $3.49)
Size: 4 pack
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Yogurt conveyed sherbet flavor. Use of real sugar instead of HFCS or artificial sweeteners. Actually reviewing something healthy. Torturing family members. Flavors were tasty and distinct without being overpowering. My Strongest Woman Alive show.
Cons: Frozen product was texturally uncomfortable. “Sherbert.” Serving size is very small. Being out-of-date with yogurt flavors. Both Matrix sequels.

20 thoughts to “REVIEW: Yoplait Splitz Rainbow Sherbet Low Fat Yogurt”

    1. I love Splitz in the orange and raspberry sherbet. I do not like any other yogurt. My only problem is finding a store that has the product. I was in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and Charlotte, N.C. and could not find it any where. They did have an ad for Walmart but they did not get it in. The only place I can find it is is Pittsburgh, Pa. I hope more stores start to carry it. It will be a nice treat on a hot summer day.

  1. hmmm. good to know that i’m not alone calling and pronouncing it “sherbert”. tonight is a sad, sad night for me. to find out that i’ve been wrong all of these years. big ups to this page for teaching me the error of my ways!

    ps.
    i really am suprised. surely it must be a common mistake???

    -amiee

    1. They still make those–my daughter always wants them but never eats them once I buy them. I can’t really blame her, since they are way too sweet and fake-tasting.

  2. I think to truly do an effective review of this product, you should try doing the splits while eating it. Of course, if I tried that I’d likely wind up in the hospital so I can’t really criticize.

  3. Huh? Sherbet and sorbet are different products, differencing on dairy content, right?

    Anyway, interesting product. I love rainbow sherbet, and I love yogurt, so I should like yogurt that tastes like rainbow sherbet. But shame on the small size here, I used to get yogurt in 8 oz cups.

    I wonder, if you freeze it, does it not meet “live and active” guidelines?

  4. I had no idea I wasn’t alone on the “sherbert” thing. And that, apparently, it is mildly acceptable (thanks Gordon!)

    I also never knew I could write so many words about yogurt. How did that happen?

  5. Yogurts are funny… they’re only “sorta” healthy. 12 grams of sugar per serving? You’re better off eating a candy bar… damn health foods.

    great review! I will have to look for these.

    1. Wait, what? Three Musketeers, the archetypical candy bar, has, like 40 grams of sugar. Snickers has 48. How are you “better off”?

  6. “Sherbert,” but I’m from Philly and we mispronounce words all the time. That’s how we roll.

    As for the raspberry sorbet story. I think this will make you cringe: When I worked in a ice cream parlor and I once took an order for a raspberry sorbet with hot fudge on top.

    Seriously.

  7. When I saw this, it reminded me of Yoplait’s new “Yoplait Delights.” (I tried the chocolate raspberry one the other day. It wasn’t very good.) I don’t know why Yoplait is seemingly dumping a ton of new products on the market (though with the Delights, I’m wondering if it’s because “Yoplait parfait” has a nice ring to it), but this is all a far cry from the strawberry yogurt with chunks I remember eating as a kid. Ice-cream flavored yogurt sounds a little weird, but I might still have to try this — especially the Strawberry Sundae flavor you mentioned.

  8. I did not know that sherbet was not pronounced sherbert until I was 11. I still pronounce it that way, even though I know the difference.

    Also, any time I’ve eaten rainbow sherbet, the pink layer has always been strawberry, so I’m pretty sure it’s orange, strawberry, and lime.

    This sounds delicious, though. Also the sugars in yogurt tend to be natural sugars, which are by definition better for you.

  9. You’re only supposed to freeze it for 1-1 1/2 hours not overnight. It is so delicious.

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