Cheese: Nutrition, Types of Cheese and Is Cheese Healthy?

Cheese is milk that has been curdled, drained and often aged, which concentrates its protein, fat and calcium into a small, flavorful package. That concentration is why cheese can be a rich source of protein and calcium and also a notable source of saturated fat and sodium, and why the answer to “is cheese healthy?” depends on the kind and how much of your diet it makes up. Below we compare USDA cheese nutrition for nine common kinds per ounce, explain the main types of cheese, look at lactose and food safety, and summarize what the long-term studies found.

Peptide Labs does not sell cheese or dairy products. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

Cheese nutrition: nine kinds compared

The table uses USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy values for one ounce (28.35 grams), the standard serving on many cheese labels, with percent Daily Values in brackets. The FDC ID lets you look up each entry. Brands differ, so the Nutrition Facts label on your package is the final word.

A few patterns stand out. Hard, long-aged cheeses such as parmesan pack the most protein and calcium per ounce because they hold the least water; our parmesan guide covers it in depth. Soft-ripened brie is much lower in calcium per ounce in USDA data. Swiss stands out for low sodium and for vitamin B12: USDA lists 0.87 micrograms per ounce, 36% of the Daily Value, and whole-milk mozzarella has 27%. Cheese also supplies vitamin A, phosphorus, zinc and riboflavin in smaller amounts. For how cheese stacks up against other protein and calcium foods, see our guides to protein-rich foods, calcium in foods and vitamin B12 sources.

Types of cheese

Cheesemakers sort cheese in several overlapping ways: by milk (cow, goat, sheep, buffalo), by texture and moisture, and by how it ripens. In the US, 21 CFR Part 133 sets federal standards of identity for dozens of named cheeses, plus separate rules for pasteurized process cheese, process cheese food and process cheese spread. A practical grouping for shoppers:

• Fresh, unripened cheeses: mild, moist and eaten young. Examples include ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, fresh goat cheese and queso fresco.
• Brined cheeses: stored in salty brine, which raises sodium; our feta guide explains the Greek rules for feta.
• Soft-ripened and blue cheeses: brie and camembert ripen from the rind out under a white mold; blue cheeses have mold cultures running through them.
• Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheeses: mozzarella, provolone and the snack sticks covered in our string cheese guide.
• Semi-hard and hard cheeses: cheddar, Swiss, gouda and parmesan, aged for months or years, which lowers moisture and most of the lactose.
• Processed cheese: cheese melted with emulsifying salts and other ingredients into slices or spreads. It melts smoothly but was the highest in sodium in our table.

Cheese is made with lactic acid bacteria cultures (the federal cheddar standard names one), which is why cheese turns up in roundups of fermented foods. Whether a given cheese contains live microbes when you eat it depends on how it was made and stored.

Lactose in cheese

Most of the lactose in milk drains off with the whey, and bacteria use up much of the rest as cheese ages. In USDA SR Legacy data, whole milk has 5.05 grams of lactose per 100 grams, while cheddar has 0.12 grams and Swiss and mozzarella are listed at zero; processed American cheese, which can include added dairy ingredients, is listed at 2.15 grams. Lactose content varies by brand and age, and USDA values come from limited analyses.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) suggests people with lactose intolerance try yogurt and hard cheeses, which some find easier to tolerate than other milk products, and notes that lactose-free and lactose-reduced products can help. Lactose intolerance is different from milk allergy: milk is one of the nine major food allergens under US law, and people with a milk allergy need to avoid cheese made from milk regardless of its lactose. Our lactase guide covers enzyme products.

Is cheese healthy? What the research shows

Cheese has a mixed nutrient profile, so researchers have studied it directly rather than assume it behaves like its saturated fat content alone. Two 2017 meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies give a sense of the evidence:

• Overall mortality (Nutrients, 2017): nine cohort studies with 21,365 deaths found no link between higher and lower cheese intake and death from any cause (relative risk 1.02, with a confidence interval spanning no effect) and no trend with higher intake.
• Cardiovascular disease (European Journal of Nutrition, 2017): 15 prospective studies found that people in the highest cheese-intake groups had slightly lower rates of heart disease and stroke than those in the lowest groups. A 2019 correction revised the paper’s funding and conflict-of-interest statements, which is worth knowing when weighing it.

Both analyses are observational. People who eat more cheese may differ in many ways from those who eat less, so these results cannot show that cheese itself causes any outcome. Dietary advice still applies: the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans say to include full-fat dairy with no added sugars when eating dairy, and also that saturated fat in general should not exceed 10% of daily calories. With most cheeses supplying a fifth to a quarter of the saturated fat Daily Value per ounce, portion size matters. Cheese fits into patterns such as the Mediterranean diet, where it is eaten in modest amounts.

Sodium is the other number to watch. The Dietary Guidelines set less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day for ages 14 and up as a reference point, and processed, blue, feta and parmesan cheeses are among the saltier choices in the USDA table. Our guide to sodium in foods has more on reading labels.

Cheese safety: raw milk, Listeria and pregnancy

Soft cheeses made from unpasteurized (raw) milk are a known source of Listeria bacteria. The FDA says pregnant women are about 10 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis, which can lead to miscarriage, premature labor or infant death. FDA and CDC advice for pregnancy:

• Avoid soft cheeses made from raw milk, such as some brie, camembert, blue-veined cheeses and queso fresco.
• The FDA also advises avoiding queso fresco-type cheeses (queso fresco, queso blanco, requesón) even when made with pasteurized milk.
• Cheeses made with pasteurized milk, such as mozzarella, cream cheese, cottage cheese and feta, are listed as safer choices. Check the label for the word pasteurized.
• The CDC also names newborns, adults 65 or older and people with weakened immune systems as higher-risk groups for Listeria.

Federal standards allow some aged cheeses to be made from raw milk. The cheddar standard, for example, requires cheese made from unpasteurized dairy ingredients to be aged at not less than 35°F for at least 60 days. If you are pregnant, our prenatal vitamins guide covers other nutrition questions worth raising with your clinician.

Cheese and butter: two concentrated dairy fats

Butter is the other dairy food people ask about most. It is far higher in fat than cheese and has almost no protein or calcium; our sibling guide to butter covers its nutrition and the saturated fat debate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Butter: Nutrition Facts, Salted vs Unsalted, Is It Healthy?, Feta Cheese: Nutrition, Is It Healthy, Sodium and Safety, Parmesan: Nutrition, Lactose and Parmigiano Reggiano Rules, Mozzarella: Nutrition, Fresh vs Low-Moisture and Health Facts, Brie: Nutrition, the Edible Rind and Listeria Facts.