Is There Sugar In Cheese?

Is there sugar in cheese? Cheese is made from milk, which naturally contains a sugar known as lactose. The majority of cheese will have some degree of sugar as a result of the milk sugar. However, it not common for a cheese to have added sugar. The typical main ingredients of cheese are simply milk, rennet (for milk coagulation), cultures, and additives (salts, spices, molds, calcium chloride, ect.). There

How Much Sugar In Cheese?

The amount of sugar in cheese is very minimal in comparison to other foods. Many common cheese products have less than a gram of sugar per one ounce serving. Several cheeses can be consumed by people with lactose intolerance since they are low in lactose (sugar). As you will see in the chart below, the cheeses with the least amount of sugar are the aged cheeses like Cheddar, Gruyere, and Parmesan. Aged cheeses contain less lactose because as they age the lactose transforms into lactic acid, leaving little remaining milk sugar. Typically, processed cheeses contain the most lactose because they are not aged and often contain lactose from added whey or milk.

Let’s take a look at a few common cheeses to determine the amount of sugar in each product.