Grocery Store Shopping
 

When we arrive in Paris (our first trip) we want to purchase milk, cereal and yogurt for breakfast (hubby is diabetic - sweets are not good for him). I would like to buy a small carton of milk, either fat free or low fat (same for yogurt). Can you tell me what to look for on the carton label that would distinguish fat free or low fat milk from whole milk? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

lait entier - whole milk
lait demi-écremé - low-fat milk
lait écremé - fat-free milk

yaourt - yoghurt - same adjectives as above

"Lsit entier" is full fat milk. Skimmed milk is "lait ecreme", while semi-skimmed is "lait demi ecreme".

While fresh whole milk is usally readily available, skimmed and semi-skimmed are sometimes only available as UHT (ultra heat treated), which affects the taste.

We have not bought milk in Paris, only at supermarkets in provimcial France, so you may find things are different in the capital.

Any large supermarket like Carrefour will have frech milks or all ilks but like Chartley says the many small 'supermarkets' in Paris are so jammed up they may only carry UHT milk, which can last for ages and need not even be refrigerated I think.

Paris unfortunately has imposed, I hear, a limit on the size of supermarkets so they are IME extremely cramped and cannot carry a wide range of stuff - if there long search out a Carrefour hypermarche which are not generally found in central Paris but at please like La Defense (not sure that huge hypermarche there is a Carrefour - think Auchan but same thing.

You might have to look quite hard to find the fresh milk, where I shop (not Paris) there are often only a handful of bottles in what, between the many dairy products available (cheese, yoghurt, mousses, creme fraiche etc. etc.) may be multiple rows of dairy. The UHT will be in a different section, not refrigerated. It may be with the eggs or with baking products like sugar and flour, or maybe near the juices or something. I don't buy milk very often.

You might also see the percentage of fat written on yoghurt. Some brands, such as Taillefine or Sveltesse, are diet products and should have reduced sugar as well.

For the yogurt, the adjective you'll see used for low fat is 'allégé'.
The milk bottles or cartons (most sold form in France, in the unrefrigerated section) also have color codes:
- red = full fat
- blue = semi-skimmed
- green = skimmed

Thank you everyone for the information - it is very helpful!