It is very difficult to escape excessive sodium in our diets. It seems like just about every food we eat is loaded with salt, particularly processed and restaurant foods.
The reality is that many people simply are not aware of the sodium they are consuming because they are not directly shaking it onto their food. A great quantity of the food that most people eat is already pre-seasoned with salt and we aren’t stopping to calculate sodium numbers.
The American Heart Association states that Americans are getting more that 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day whereas 2,300 milligrams is the recommendation set by the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
When we look at cottage cheese as it relates to sodium, it commonly contains a lot of it as we will show below. However, there are a few low sodium and no salted added cottage cheese products out there that you might consider.
Below you will see how much sodium is in regular, low sodium, and no salt added cottage cheese by comparing popular store-bought brands. Let’s get into the details!
Low Sodium Cottage Cheese?
The sodium in cottage cheese varies greatly from brand to brand. Below we have provided the sodium nutrition facts for some of the most recognized cottage cheese brands.
The first table reflects regular cottage cheese brands and the second table shows cottage cheese products that are labeled less/low sodium or no salt added.
You can see that the sodium for regular cottage cheese ranges from 300-690 milligrams while the less sodium/no salt added products range from 45-240 milligrams. Notably the products specifically labeled “no salt added” have sodium ranging from 45-60 milligrams.
Regular (Not Labeled Low Sodium) Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup
| Cottage Cheese Brand/Type | Sodium(mg) |
|---|---|
| Borden – 1% Milkfat | 400mg |
| Breakstone’s – Fat Free | 390mg |
| Breakstone’s – 2% Milkfat | 360mg |
| Breakstone’s – 4% Milkfat | 350mg |
| Cabot – 4% Milkfat | 420mg |
| Clover Sonoma – 2% Milkfat | 360mg |
| Clover Sonoma – 4% Milkfat | 430mg |
| Country Fresh – Lowfat (1% Milkfat) | 690mg |
| Country Fresh – Small Curd (4% Milkfat) | 410mg |
| Daisy – 2% Milkfat | 350mg |
| Daisy – 4% Milkfat | 390mg |
| Friendship Dairies – Nonfat | 430mg |
| Friendship Dairies – 1% Milkfat | 360mg |
| Friendship Dairies – 4% Milkfat California-Style | 380mg |
| Hiland – 1% Milkfat | 480mg |
| Hood – Country Style | 440mg |
| Great Value – Fat Free Small Curd | 400mg |
| Great Value – 1% Milkfat Small Curd | 400mg |
| Kalona SuperNatural – Organic 2% Milkfat | 360mg |
| Kalona SuperNatural – Organic 4% Milkfat | 350mg |
| Lactaid – 4% Milkfat | 440mg |
| Nancy’s – Organic 2% Milkfat | 300mg |
| Nancy’s – Organic 4% Milkfat | 300mg |
| Organic Valley – 2% Milkfat | 450mg |
| Organic Valley – 4% Milkfat | 450mg |
| Prairie Farms – 2% Milkfat | 490mg |
| Prairie Farms – 4% Milkfat | 450mg |
Less Sodium/No Salt Added Cottage Cheese
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup
| Cottage Cheese Brand/Type | Sodium(mg) |
|---|---|
| Breakstone’s – 2% Milkfat Low Sodium | 220mg |
| Friendship Dairies – 1% Milkfat No Salt Added | 55mg |
| Hood – Low Fat No Salt Added | 60mg |
| Prairie Farms – 1% Milkfat Low Sodium | 240mg |
| Stop & Shop – 1% Milkfat No Salt Added | 45mg |
Summary
You can see by the above tables that there is a major difference in the sodium in cottage cheese based on brands and products. This is particularly true when comparing regular cottage cheese varieties to less or no salt added products.
The majority of cottage cheese in stores is actually high in sodium when you consider that a one cup serving could result in approximately 800-900 milligrams of sodium for many products.
The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans established by the USDA recommends less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Your doctor may even recommend even less based on your health.
If you wish to keep your sodium in check, you should seek a lower sodium cottage cheese. You can also consider opting for a regular cottage cheese while watching your sodium intake throughout
