Cheddar

What it is and how to eat it

In Spain, the cheese quality standard (Real Decreto 1113/2006) calls a cheese "curado" (aged) when it has ripened for at least 105 days if it weighs more than 1.5 kg, or 45 days if it weighs 1.5 kg or less, and Queso Manchego, a protected designation of origin, is made only from Manchega sheep's milk and ripens for between 30 days and 2 years, depending on its size. In Latin America people speak more of mature or hard cheeses, such as aged cotija in Mexico or reggianito and sardo in Argentina and Uruguay. This page uses USDA's cheddar as a reference, a hard cheese that according to the Codex Alimentarius normally ripens for at least 5 weeks, with 403 kcal, 22.9 g of protein and 33.3 g of fat per 100 g; a Manchego or another aged cheese will have somewhat different values.

A 30 g (1 oz) serving, a few thin slices, provides 6.9 g of protein but also 10 g of fat and 121 kcal, so it works better to add flavor and some protein than as a dish. The 2025 nutrition advisory on GLP-1 therapy suggests avoiding very fatty foods in the first few days of treatment and notes that, when appetite is low, foods such as cottage cheese are often more appealing than hard cheeses, so in those days, and after a dose increase, reduce the amount or choose lighter cheeses, such as queso fresco or ricotta. This site's weekly menu leaves aged cheeses out of its vegetarian option because they are often made with animal rennet.

What the evidence says

With 710 mg of calcium per 100 g according to USDA it exceeds the 240 mg the EU requires for a "high calcium" claim, and a 30 g serving provides 213 mg, more than a quarter of the 800 mg reference value; that means it can carry the authorized claim "calcium is needed for the maintenance of normal bones" (Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006, (EU) No 1169/2011 and (EU) No 432/2012). It has 653 mg of sodium per 100 g, about 196 mg per serving, almost a tenth of the 2,000 mg a day WHO recommends not exceeding, and the Manchego specification allows up to 2.3% salt. USDA lists only 0.12 g of lactose per 100 g, about 0.04 g per serving, far below the 12 g that, according to EFSA, the vast majority of people who digest lactose poorly tolerate at once, and the US National Institutes of Health note that hard cheeses, such as cheddar, are lower in lactose than other milk products.

The sources for this section are listed under "Sources" at the end of the page.