Great Gobs.

Lower-Fat Cheese Comes of Age

Eight point eight billion dollars. That's what we spent last year on cheese. And it doesn't even include the cost of what was used by restaurants and in pizzas, frozen lasagnas, and other commercially prepared foods. No wonder cheese is neck and neck with beef as the number-one source of artery-clogging saturated fat in the U.S. diet.

Do the math. Every ounce of regular cheddar contains nine grams of fat, six of them saturated. Mozzarella's a little lower, at seven grams of fat--four saturated (part-skim mozzarella, at five grams of fat and three grams of sat fat, is just a touch better). Plug that into your daily 20-gram sat fat limit. And then start multiplying ... because an ounce ain't much cheese. It's about a one-inch cube, 1 1/2 slices of process cheese, or 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.

Thank heavens for low-fat and no-fat cheeses. Well, thanks for their numbers. For every three grams of total fat a cheese loses, it drops about two grams of sat fat. But it keeps much of the calcium that makes cheese a great bone-builder. (An ounce of most cheeses will give you 150 to 300 mg; a glass of milk has 300 to 350 mg.) Unfortunately, as cheese sheds fat, it tends to shed its wonderfully rich taste. But there are exceptions.

Here's a look at reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free cheeses. An ounce of our "Best Bites" (or a 3/4-oz. slice of a Best Bite process cheese) has no more than four grams of total fat, two grams of saturated fat, and 300 milligrams of sodium. It also has at least 15 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for calcium. If you don't like our Best Bites, move up to a "light" cheese--that usually means half the fat of the regular version--or to a "1/3 less fat" cheese (like Kraft Reduced Fat Cracker Barrel). The idea is to see how low you can go.

Cheddar

When you cut half the fat from an ounce of cheddar, you're left with about five grams. That's still plenty. Most people would be hard-pressed to taste the difference between full-fat cheddars and ones like Sargento Light Mild Shredded or (our favorite) Cabot 50% Light.

But five grams of total fat usually means three grams of saturated fat. That's not the end of the world, but you can do better. Try (hard-to-find) White Clover Light or Cabot 75% Light (for phone numbers, see "Low-Fat Tips"). Both were Best Bites. Each had a nice cheddary bite and pleasant aftertaste. (The Cabot contains the safe fat substitute Simplesse, which is made from whey protein.)

Go much lower than three or four grams of fat and things get a little dicey. Healthy Choice Shreds and Kraft Free Shredded weren't exactly exploding with taste.

Mozzarella & String Cheese

Be careful trying to melt our Best Bites in dry dishes like pizza or grilled cheese sandwiches. You may end up with a gummy or plasticky mess. But use them in a moist dish like lasagna or bean burritos and you're in business (see "Low-Fat Tips").

String cheese is mozzarella that's fun to peel and eat ... so much fun, in fact, that it's easy to down more one-ounce strings than you should. We tasted three: Horizon Organic was delicious but had a gram too much fat and sat fat for a Best Bite. Polly-O Lite was a touch gummy but very tasty--perfect for the kids' (or your) lunchbox. Healthy Choice was fine, but a bit drier.

Process Cheese

Our favorites: Borden Low Fat Sharp and Kraft Free Sharp Cheddar. If you still need more flavor, move up to three grams of fat and (delicious) Kraft 2% Milk Singles. Just keep in mind that process cheese can have twice the sodium of natural cheese.

Swiss

What looks like Swiss, tastes like Swiss, and has less than half the fat and saturated fat of Swiss? Jarlsberg Lite has been our favorite for years, but Sargento Light Swiss now tastes every bit as good.

Miscellaneous

We loved Sargento Light Provolone and White Clover Light Colby and Light Muenster. Each tasted remarkably like the real thing.

Sargento Light 6 Cheese Italian (shredded) was almost as good. And Greek-salad-lovers should make a beeline to Alpine Lace Reduced Fat Feta. It has 70 mg too much sodium for a Best Bite, but we couldn't tell it from full-fat feta.

We found a few "non-dairy" cheeses that we'd actually buy ... and that melt--Galaxy Foods Veggie Slices and Soyco Rice Slices. Unfortunately, they--and most others--are made using the milk protein casein, so they're really not non-dairy. And some don't contain even half the calcium of regular cheese. We didn't include any in our chart.

The information for this article was compiled by Wendy Meltzer and Christine Donat.

RELATED ARTICLE: LOW-FAT TIPS

Low- and no-fat cheeses aren't as well-behaved as their fattier cousins. When we tried to melt a few on pieces of pita bread, we're pretty sure we discovered a new form of plastic. Here's how the folks at the Cabot Creamery in Vermont say to treat their light cheddars. The advice--which we've adapted--is probably also good for other low-fat and no-fat cheeses:

* Shred while the cheese is chilled, right from the refrigerator.

* Shred finely, not coarsely.

* Try to cook the cheese with foods that add moisture. Lasagna works better than pizza, for example.

* Lower-fat cheese melts best when heated for a longer time at a lower temperature.

* If you microwave, use a lower setting, cover the food with plastic wrap or a cover designed for microwaves, make sure the food rotates, and stir frequently.

(You can mail-order Cabot cheeses by calling 800-639-3198. For information on White Clover cheeses, call 800-878-5765. Both brands can be hard to find.)

RELATED ARTICLE: Say Cheese

"Best Bites" contain no more than four grams of total fat, two grams of saturated fat, and 300 milligrams of sodium in a one-ounce serving (3/4 oz. for process cheese). They also have at least 15 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for calcium. One ounce is about a one-inch cube or 1/4 cup of shredded cheese. A slice of most process cheese is 3/4 oz. Best Bites are based on numbers, not taste. Within each category cheeses are ranked from least to most total fat, then saturated fat, sodium, and calories. Cheeses with less than 15 percent of the DV for calcium are marked with an asterisk (*).

                                  Total Fat   Saturated
                       Calories   (grams)     Fat (grams)
Cheddar (1 oz.)

([check]) Kraft         50        0           0
Free Shredded

Healthy Choice          50        2           1
Shreds(*)

([check]) Cabot         60        3           2
75% Light

([check]) White         80        4           2
Clover Light

Alpine Lace             70        5           3
Reduced Fat

Cabot 50%               70        5           3
Light(1,2)

Weight Watchers         80        5           3
Reduced Fat(1)

Sargento Light          70        5           3
Mild Shredded

Horizon Organic         80        6           4
Reduced Fat Shredded

Kraft 2% Milk(1,2)      90        6           4

Kraft Reduced Fat       90        6           4
Cracker Barrel(1)

Cheddar, regular       110        9           6

Mozzarella & String
Cheese (1 oz.)

([check]) Polly-O       40        0           0
Free(2)

Sorrento Fat Free(*)    30        0           0

Kraft Free Shredded     50        0           0

([check]) Healthy       60        2           1
Choice

([check]) Healthy       50        2           1
Choice String
Cheese(1)

([check]) Healthy       50        2           1
Choice Shreds(1)(*)

([check]) Sorrento      50        2           2
Low Fat(2)

([check]) Alpine        70        3           2
Lace Reduced Fat

([check]) Polly-O       60        3           2
Lite(2)

([check]) Polly-O       60        3           2
Lite String Cheese

Sargento Light          70        4           3

Sargento Light          70        4           3
Shredded

Mozzarella,             80        5           3
part skim

Horizon Organic         80        5           3
String Cheese

Kraft 2% Milk           80        5           3
Shredded

Mozzarella, regular     90        7           4

Process Cheese
(3/4-oz. slice,
except when noted)

([check]) Weight        30        0           0
Watchers Reduced
Sodium Fat Free

([check]) Smart         30        0           0
Beat Fat Free
(2/3-0z. slice)(1)

([check]) Lifetime      40        0           0
Fat Free (1 oz.)(1)

([check]) Kraft         30        0           0
Free(1)

Weight Watchers         30        0           0
Fat Free(1)(*)

Borden Fat Free(1)       30        0           0

Healthy Choice          40        1           1
Jalapeno(*)

([check]) Healthy       40        1           1
Choice, except
Jalapeno(1)

([check]) Borden Low    30        1           1
Fat, except Swiss
(2/3-oz.-slice)(1)

([check]) Lifetime      50        2           1
Low Fat (1 oz.)(1)

Borden Low Fat          50        2           1
Swiss (1-oz. slice)

([check]) Light n'      50        3           2
Lively American

Wholesome Valley        50        3           2
Organic American(*)

([check]) Borden        50        3           2
Light American

([check]) Kraft 2%      50        3           2
Milk Singles(1)

Velveeta Light          60        3           2
(1 oz.)

Process American        80        7           4
cheese, regular

Swiss (1 oz.)

([check]) Jarlsberg     70        4           2
Lite(2)

Sargento Light          80        4           3

Alpine Lace             90        6           4
Reduced Fat

Lorraine                90        6           4

Kraft 2% Milk          100        7           4

Swiss, regular         110        8           5

Miscellaneous
(1 oz.)

President Fat           30        0           0
Free Feta(1)(*)

Healthy Choice          50        2           1
Italian Shreds(*)

Healthy Choice          50        2           1
Mexican(*) or
Pizza Shreds(*)

Alpine Lace             50        3           2
Reduced Fat Feta(*)

([check]) White         80        4           2
Clover Light Colby

([check]) Sargento      70        4           2
Light Provolone

([check]) White         70        4           2
Clover Light
Monterey Jack

([check]) White
Clover                  70        4           2
Light Muenster

([check]) Sargento      70        4           2
Light Cheese
Italian Shredded

Athenos Reduced         60        4           3
Fat Feta(*)

Alpine Lace Reduced     70        5           3
Fat Provolone

Alpine Lace             80        5           3
Reduced Fat Colby

Denmark's Finest        80        5           3
Light Havarti

Sargento Light          70        5           3
4 Cheese Mexican
Shredded

Sargento Light Taco     70        5           3
Cheese Shredded

Kraft 2% Milk           80        6           4
Colby

Kraft 2% Milk           80        6           4
Monterey Jack

Feta, regular           70        6           4

Provolone, regular     100        8           5

Monterey Jack,         110        9           5
regular

Muenster, regular      100        9           5

Colby, regular         110        9           6

                       Sodium
                       (milligrams)
Cheddar (1 oz.)

([check]) Kraft        300
Free Shredded

Healthy Choice         220
Shreds(*)

([check]) Cabot        200
75% Light

([check]) White        160
Clover Light

Alpine Lace            170
Reduced Fat

Cabot 50%              170
Light(1,2)

Weight Watchers        180
Reduced Fat(1)

Sargento Light         200
Mild Shredded

Horizon Organic        140
Reduced Fat Shredded

Kraft 2%Milk (1,2)     230

Kraft Reduced Fat      240
Cracker Barrel(1)

Cheddar, regular       180

Mozzarella & String
Cheese (1 oz.)

([check]) Polly-O      250
Free(2)

Sorrento Fat Free(*)   290

Kraft Free Shredded    340

([check]) Healthy      200
Choice

([check]) Healthy      220
Choice String
Cheese(1)

([check]) Healthy      250
Choice Shreds(1*)

([check]) Sorrento     180
Low Fat(2)

([check]) Alpine       200
Lace Reduced Fat

([check]) Polly-O      230
Lite(2)

([check]) Polly-O      250
Lite String Cheese

Sargento Light         140

Sargento Light         200
Shredded

Mozzarella,            150
part skim

Horizon Organic        170
String Cheese

Kraft 2% Milk          210
Shredded

Mozzarella, regular    120

Process Cheese
(3/4-oz. slice,
except when noted)

([check]) Weight       150
Watchers Reduced
Sodium Fat Free

([check]) Smart        180
Beat Fat Free
(2/3-0z. slice)(1)

([check]) Lifetime     220
Fat Free (1 oz.)(1)

([check]) Kraft        290
Free(1)

Weight Watchers        310
Fat Free (1*)

Borden Fat Free(1)      320

Healthy Choice         200
Jalapeno(*)

([check]) Healthy      210
Choice, except
Jalapeno(1)

([check]) Borden Low   260
Fat, except Swiss
(2/3-oz.-slice)(1)

([check]) Lifetime     200
Low Fat (1 oz.)(1)

Borden Low Fat         370
Swiss (1-oz. slice)

([check]) Light n'     280
Lively American

Wholesome Valley       290
Organic American(*)

([check]) Borden       300
Light American

([check]) Kraft 2%     300
Milk Singles(1)

Velveeta Light         440
(1 oz.)

Process American       300
cheese, regular

Swiss (1 oz.)

([check]) Jarlsberg    130
Lite(2)

Sargento Light          50

Alpine Lace             40
Reduced Fat

Lorraine                40

Kraft 2% Milk           70

Swiss, regular          70

Miscellaneous
(1 oz.)

President Fat          450
Free Feta(1*)

Healthy Choice         210
Italian Shreds(*)

Healthy Choice         220
Mexican(*) or
Pizza Shreds(*)

Alpine Lace            370
Reduced Fat Feta(*)

([check]) White        180
Clover Light Colby

([check]) Sargento     190
Light Provolone

([check]) White        190
Clover Light
Monterey Jack

([check]) White
Clover                 190
Light Muenster

([check]) Sargento     200
Light Cheese
Italian Shredded

Athenos Reduced        390
Fat Feta(*)

Alpine Lace Reduced    120
Fat Provolone

Alpine Lace            120
Reduced Fat Colby

Denmark's Finest       160
Light Havarti

Sargento Light         200
4 Cheese Mexican
Shredded

Sargento Light Taco    240
Cheese Shredded

Kraft 2% Milk          220
Colby

Kraft 2% Milk          240
Monterey Jack

Feta, regular          320

Provolone, regular     250

Monterey Jack,         150
regular

Muenster, regular      180

Colby, regular         170

([check]) Best Bite.

(1) average of all flavors (sharp, smoked, etc.).

(2) Average of all forms (shredded, brick, sliced, etc.).

(*) contains less than 150 mg of calcium, which is 15 percent of the Daily Value (DV). Cheeses in italics are for comparison.

The use of the information from this article for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited without written permission from CSPI.

Source: Manufacturers.