Cream cheese is considered a dairy product because it is commonly produced from cow’s milk. Milk naturally contains sugar known as lactose. Take a look at your milk container and you will notice that sugar is not listed as an ingredient, but the nutrition label will list about 10 grams of sugar per an 8-ounce serving. This is because the sugar (lactose) is contained within the milk and is not added as an ingredient. Cream cheese will have a small amount of natural sugar from the milk that it is made from. Let’s take a look at how much total sugar is in cream cheese from natural and added sugar sources.
How Much Sugar In Cream Cheese?
Below we have provided the nutrition facts for a selection of cream cheese products. This should give you an idea of how much sugar is in cream cheese. Note that we also supplied information on whether the ingredients indicated added sugar or not. No added sugar means that the sugar is only from lactose.
You will notice that plain cream cheese has about 1 to 2 grams of sugar, which is minimal. As expected, the flavored cream cheese products (Philadelphia Strawberry and Philadelphia Brown Sugar & Cinnamon) have higher sugar content and added sugar as ingredients. Try Green Valley Organic cream cheese if you want a completely sugar-free option since the lactose is removed from the product.
Sugar In Cream Cheese
| Cream Cheese Type | Serving Size | Sugars | Ingredients Show Added Sugar? | Calories | Total Fat | Saturated Fat | Cholesterol | Sodium | Carbohydrates | Dietary Fiber | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Soft Plain Cream Cheese | 2 Tablespoons | 1 g | No | 80 | 7 g | 4.5 g | 7 mg | 125 mg | 1 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Plain | 2 Tablespoons | 2 g | No | 70 | 6 g | 3.5 g | 7 mg | 140 mg | 1 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Philadelphia Soft Fat Free | 2 Tablespoons | 2 g | Yes | 30 | 0 g | 0 g | 1 mg | 200 mg | 1 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Strawberry | 2 Tablespoons | 6 g | Yes | 70 | 4.5 g | 3 g | 5 mg | 115 mg | 2 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Chive & Onion | 2 Tablespoons | 2 g | No | 70 | 5 g | 3.5 g | 7 mg | 170 mg | 1 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Garden Vegetable | 2 Tablespoons | 2 g | No | 70 | 5 g | 3.5 g | 7 mg | 190 mg | 1 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Philadelphia Brown Sugar & Cinnamon | 2 Tablespoons | 7 g | Yes | 80 | 4.5 g | 2.5 g | 5 mg | 115 mg | 2 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Organic Valley (Bar) | 2 Tablespoons | <1 g | No | 100 | 10 g | 6 g | 30 mg | 100 mg | 1 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Challenge Dairy | 2 Tablespoons | 2 g | No | 90 | 9 g | 6 g | 30 mg | 95 mg | 2 g | 0 g | u/k |
| Green Valley Organic (Lactose Free) | 2 Tablespoons | 0 g | No | 110 | 11 g | 7 g | 35 mg | 70 mg | 2 g | 0 g | 1 g |
| Cabot | 2 tablespoons | 2 g | No | 100 | 9 g | 6 g | 30 mg | 80 mg | 2 g | 0 g | 1 g |
| Nancy's Organic | 2 Tablespoons | 2 g | No | 95 | 9 g | 6 g | 35 mg | 35 mg | 2 g | 0 g | 1 g |