It is very difficult to escape excessive sodium in our diets because it is in an enormous amount of foods we eat. A recent Time article indicated that 61 percent of food consumed by Americans is highly processed. In fact, the American Heart Association (AHA) states that 75 percent of the salt that Americans consume is from processed foods. Many people simply are not aware of the sodium they are ingesting because they are not directly shaking it onto their food. Our food is already pre-seasoned with it and we aren’t stopping to calculate sodium numbers. The AHA states that Americans are getting more that 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day whereas, 1,500 is the recommended maximum. Other sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), state that daily sodium intake should be up to 2,300 milligrams. Is cottage cheese a low sodium food product?
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 popular cottage cheese brands. The first table reflects regular cottage cheese brands and the second table shows cottage cheese products that are labeled less sodium or no salt added. You can see that the sodium for regular cottage cheese ranges from 340-480 milligrams while the less sodium/no salt added products ranged from 55-320 milligrams. Notably the products specifically labeled “no salt added” had sodium ranging from 55-75 milligrams.
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Regular (Not Labeled Low Sodium) Cottage Cheese
Serving Size is 1/2 Cup| Brand/Type | Sodium (mg) |
|---|---|
| Borden Small Curd | 450 mg |
| Borden Large Curd | 450 mg |
| Borden 1% Lowfat | 440 mg |
| Borden Fat Free | 470 mg |
| Daisy Lowfat | 350 mg |
| Daisy Regular | 350 mg |
| Hood Country Style | 430 mg |
| Hood Lowfat | 440 mg |
| Hood Fat Free | 420 mg |
| Lactaid Lowfat | 380 mg |
| Fiber One Lowfat | 430 mg |
| Friendship Dairies 1% Low Fat | 360 mg |
| Friendship Dairies 2% Low Fat (Pot Style) | 400 mg |
| Friendship Dairies Nonfat | 420 mg |
| Cabot Vermont Style | 400 mg |
| Cabot Nofat | 410 mg |
| Kemps 1% Lowfat | 450 mg |
| Kemps 2% Lowfat | 450 mg |
| Kemps 4% Small Curd | 450 mg |
| Kemps Fat Free | 450 mg |
| Hiland 2% Lowfat | 400 mg |
| Hiland Small Curd | 470 mg |
| Hiland Large Curd | 430 mg |
| Hiland Fat Free | 430 mg |
| Organic Valley Lowfat | 450 mg |
| Organic Valley 4% Small Curd | 450 mg |
| Horizon Organic 2% Lowfat | 390 mg |
| Horizon Organic 4% | 400 mg |
| Shamrock Farms Traditional | 370 mg |
| Shamrock Farms Lowfat | 440 mg |
| Shamrock Farms Fat Free | 410 mg |
| Clover 2% Lowfat | 380 mg |
| Clover 4% | 340 mg |
| Clover Fat Free | 360 mg |
| Prairie Farms Large Curd | 450 mg |
| Prairie Farms Small Curd | 480 mg |
| Prairie Farms 2% Lowfat | 480 mg |
| Prairie Farms Fat Free | 470 mg |
| Crowley Large Curd | 430 mg |
| Crowley Small Curd | 450 mg |
| Crowley Lowfat | 480 mg |
| Crowley Fat Free | 470 mg |
Less Sodium/No Salt Added Cottage Cheese
Serving Size is 1/2 Cup| Brand/Type | Sodium (mg) |
|---|---|
| Hood 1% Lowfat No Salt Added | 55 mg |
| Friendship Dairies 1% Lowfat No Salt Added | 60 mg |
| Crowley Lowfat No Salt Added | 75 mg |
| Prairie Farms 1% Lowfat Low Sodium | 240 mg |
| Kemps 2% Lowfat with 25% Less Sodium | 320 mg |
You can see by the above tables that there is a large difference in the amount of cottage cheese sodium based on brands and products. This is particularly true when comparing regular cottage cheese varieties of various milkfat 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. However, there are low sodium cottage cheese products available for those seeking to maintain a low sodium diet.
