ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Call it the yogurt empire state.
For the second year in a row, New York has been named the top yogurt producer in the United States.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that federal statistics show the state produced 741 million pounds of the dairy product in 2013, well above the 591 million produced by second-place California.
Cuomo calls New York the nation’s “yogurt capital” and notes that the state also leads the nation in the production of cottage cheese and cream cheese and is the third highest producer of milk.
The state’s dairy industry - and in particular its yogurt business - has been hailed as an example of the economic transformation of upstate New York.
The state Senate recently voted to make yogurt the state’s official snack.
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