The short answer
Cheese is high in saturated fat almost across the board. A 30g piece of cheddar, brie or US brick cream cheese has about 6.5g, half of a 13g daily limit. If you have high cholesterol, the best approach is smaller portions of a cheese you enjoy, plus lighter cheeses for everyday use.
Lowest in saturated fat in our table:
- The Laughing Cow Light (UK): 1.4g per 30g
- Daisy Low Fat Cottage Cheese 2% (US): 1.5g per half cup
- Sargento Light Mozzarella String Cheese (US) and Philadelphia Light (UK): 2.1g
- Polly-O Ricotta (US) and Mini Babybel Light: 2.4g
Only two cheeses made our lowest band. Regular mozzarella, halloumi and reduced-fat cheddar came in at about 4 to 4.5g.
Label data only, not medical advice
This ranking compares what each cheese's nutrition label says about saturated fat. It isn't a health rating of any brand, and no cheese is a cholesterol-lowering food: a lighter cheese is still a source of saturated fat. Recipes change, so check the label on the pack you buy. If your doctor or dietitian has given you specific limits, follow those.
20 cheeses ranked by saturated fat
Every cheese is compared on the same 30g serving (about 1 oz, a matchbox-sized piece). Cottage cheese uses 1/2 cup (113g), the US label serving, because it's eaten by the spoonful. Bands are the same as in our other product guides: Better 2g or less per serving, Occasional over 2g up to 4.5g, Treat over 4.5g. Most full-fat cheese lands in Treat.
| The Laughing Cow Light | 1.4g | 11% | Better |
| Daisy Low Fat Cottage Cheese 2% | 1.5g | 12% | Better |
| Philadelphia Light | 2.1g | 16% | Occasional |
| Sargento Light Mozzarella String Cheese | 2.1g | 16% | Occasional |
| Polly-O Original Ricotta | 2.4g | 18% | Occasional |
| Mini Babybel Light | 2.4g | 18% | Occasional |
| Daisy Cottage Cheese 4% | 3g | 23% | Occasional |
| Kraft Singles American | 3.2g | 25% | Occasional |
| Galbani Mozzarella | 3.9g | 30% | Occasional |
| Cathedral City Mature Lighter | 4.1g | 32% | Occasional |
| Philadelphia Original | 4.1g | 32% | Occasional |
| Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat (brick) | 4.3g | 33% | Occasional |
| Cypressa Halloumi | 4.5g | 35% | Occasional |
| Mini Babybel Original | 4.7g | 36% | Treat |
| Longley Farm Cottage Cheese | 4.9g | 38% | Treat |
| Violife Original Slices (vegan) | 6.3g | 48% | Treat |
| Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese (brick) | 6.4g | 49% | Treat |
| Tillamook Medium Cheddar | 6.4g | 49% | Treat |
| Président Brie | 6.4g | 49% | Treat |
| Cathedral City Mature Cheddar | 6.5g | 50% | Treat |
Nutrition data from Open Food Facts, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). Product names link to each product's Open Food Facts page.
What the ranking shows
- Full-fat hard cheese is the highest, whatever the brand. Cathedral City Mature and Tillamook Medium Cheddar both have about 21.5g of saturated fat per 100g, or 6.4 to 6.5g in 30g. Président Brie and Philadelphia's US cream cheese brick are the same.
- "Light" versions save a third to two thirds. Mini Babybel Light and Philadelphia Light each have about half the saturated fat of the original. Cathedral City Mature Lighter has about a third less than the full-fat block, at 4.1g per 30g.
- US and UK cream cheese are different products. Philadelphia's US brick has 21.2g of saturated fat per 100g; the UK tub of Philadelphia Original has 13.7g, closer to the US "1/3 Less Fat" brick (14.3g).
- Cottage cheese is low per gram, but portions are bigger. At 1.3 to 4.3g per 100g, it's the lowest cheese by weight. A half cup of full-fat cottage cheese (Longley Farm, 4.9g) still lands in the Treat band, while low-fat versions such as Daisy 2% come in at 1.5g.
- Vegan cheese isn't lower. Violife Original is made with coconut oil and has 21g of saturated fat per 100g, the same as cheddar. It has no dietary cholesterol, but saturated fat has the bigger effect on LDL.
- Halloumi adds up when grilled. At 15g per 100g it sits mid-table at 30g, but a quarter of a 225g block (about 56g) has about 8.4g.
How much cheese, and how to choose
- Weigh a portion once. 30g of hard cheese is about the size of a matchbox or two thumbs. Most people cut more than that for a sandwich or a cracker plate, so it's worth checking once on the kitchen scales.
- Use the per-100g figure to compare. Under UK labelling rules, more than 5g of saturates per 100g counts as high, so almost every cheese is "high". The useful comparison is between cheeses: about 21g per 100g for cheddar, brie and vegan coconut-oil cheese, 13 to 15g for mozzarella, halloumi, reduced-fat cheddar and UK cream cheese, under 8g for light soft cheese, ricotta and light Babybel, and under 5g for cottage cheese.
- Pick the light version of the cheese you like. Light soft cheese, light string cheese and lighter cheddar cut the saturated fat without changing what you eat.
- Go strong and grate it. A mature or extra-mature cheddar gives more flavour per gram, and grated cheese spreads further. A tablespoon of grated parmesan (about 5g) has around 1g of saturated fat.
- Check the single portions. Labels give useful fixed portions: a Mini Babybel is 20 to 22g, a Laughing Cow triangle 16.7g, a Kraft Single 19g, and a string cheese 21 to 28g.
- Swap some cheese out. Hummus, cottage cheese or ricotta can stand in for cream cheese or cheddar in sandwiches, on crackers and in baked potatoes.
More dairy swaps
From cream cheese on bagels to cheese sauce, our 100 food swaps that lower cholesterol include a full section on cheese and dairy. Pairing cheese with crackers? Our crackers ranking shows which ones add the least saturated fat.
Check any cheese before you buy it
Scan any product’s barcode in Heart Tracker to see its saturated fat per serving, then log your portion to see how it fits into your day alongside your cholesterol results.
Download Heart Tracker FreeHow we ranked them
We picked best-selling cheeses in the US and UK, from cheddar, brie and cream cheese to light versions, string cheese, cottage cheese, halloumi and a vegan cheese, and took each one's nutrition data from Open Food Facts, an open database built from product labels. To catch mistakes, we compared each product's current record with an earlier copy and would have left out any where the saturated fat, fat or sugar didn't match. All 20 cheeses passed.
Cheeses are compared on 30g, calculated from the per 100g values, and cottage cheese on 1/2 cup (113g). Percentages are of 13g, the American Heart Association's suggested daily limit for saturated fat on a 2,000 calorie diet. The NHS upper limit is 20g a day for women and 30g for men. Cheese also contains dietary cholesterol, about 30mg in 30g of cheddar, but saturated fat has the bigger effect on LDL. The full dataset and the script that builds it are kept with this page and refreshed periodically.
Cheese and cholesterol: quick answers
What are the best low cholesterol cheese options?
By saturated fat on the label, the lowest cheeses in our comparison were The Laughing Cow Light (1.4g per 30g), low-fat cottage cheese (1.5g per half cup), light mozzarella string cheese and light soft cheese such as Philadelphia Light (2.1g), and ricotta and Mini Babybel Light (2.4g). Full-fat cheddar, brie and cream cheese had about 6.5g per 30g.
Does eating cheese cause high cholesterol?
Cheese is high in saturated fat, which raises LDL cholesterol, so eating a lot of it can push your cholesterol up. How much it affects yours depends on how much you eat and what it replaces. A 30g piece of cheddar has about half of a 13g daily saturated fat limit, so portion size matters more than the type of cheese.
Can I eat cheese if I have high cholesterol?
Yes, in measured portions. Weigh 30g once to see what it looks like, choose lighter versions for everyday use, and use a strong cheese grated so a little goes further. Keep full-fat cheese, halloumi and cream cheese for smaller, occasional portions.
Is cottage cheese good for high cholesterol?
Low-fat cottage cheese is one of the lowest-saturated-fat cheeses, at about 1.5g per half cup in our table, and it is high in protein. Full-fat cottage cheese has more: about 3 to 5g per half cup.
Is mozzarella better than cheddar for cholesterol?
Mozzarella has less saturated fat than cheddar: about 13g per 100g against about 21.5g, or roughly 3.9g against 6.5g in 30g. Light mozzarella string cheese has about 2g per 30g.
Is vegan cheese better for cholesterol?
Not usually. Most vegan cheese is made with coconut oil, which is mostly saturated fat. Violife Original has 21g of saturated fat per 100g, the same as cheddar. It has no dietary cholesterol, but saturated fat has the bigger effect on LDL.
Sources
- Open Food Facts (product nutrition data, ODbL)
- American Heart Association: Saturated fat
- NHS: Fat, the facts
- NHS: Milk and dairy nutrition
- UK Department of Health: Front of pack nutrition labelling guidance (high and low saturates thresholds)
- USDA FoodData Central (cholesterol in cheddar, saturated fat in parmesan)