Cheese, Cheddar and Feta
Introduction
Cheese is a dairy product made from the curdled milk of animals (commonly cows, sheep or goats) and can generally be eaten raw without cooking, though it is often incorporated into cooked dishes.
English Cheddar is a hard, aged cow’s-milk cheese typically pale to deep orange or creamy ivory in colour — the orange hue often comes from added annatto dye used historically to standardise appearance — with a firm, crumbly texture and a rich, tangy flavour; it is higher in calories and contains more saturated fat per 100 g compared with many soft cheeses.
Feta is a brined, crumbly cheese traditionally made from sheep’s milk or a mix of sheep and goat’s milk, white in colour due to its lack of colouring and the milk source, with a tangy, salty taste and moist, crumbly texture; nutritionally, feta generally has fewer calories and less saturated fat than Cheddar, making it a lighter option while still providing protein and calcium.
Nutrition Snapshot per 100g
Kcal nn kcal
Protein nn g | nn %
Fat nn g | nn %
Carbohydrates nn g | nn %
Percentages reflect this food’s Balance*
Fibre nn g
Total Sugars nn g
Saturated Fat nn g
Salt nn mg
Nutritional values are per 100g and sourced from UK CoFID data.
Carbohydrates value includes Fibre (AOAC method).
Carbohydrates value includes Total Sugars including naturally occurring sugars such as glucose, fructose, lactose or sucrose.
Balance*
The Balance value expresses how protein, carbohydrate and fat contribute to a food’s total energy.
Using CoFID data per 100g, each macronutrient is converted into energy using the standard Atwater convention (protein × 4 kcal, carbohydrate × 4 kcal, fat × 9 kcal). The energy from each macronutrient is then calculated as a percentage of the total macro energy.
This provides a simple way to see whether a food is predominantly carbohydrate-based, protein-based or fat-based.
It does not determine whether a food is “good” or “bad”, but helps visualise its macronutrient profile within a broader eating pattern.
When assessing a full meal or daily intake, portion sizes should be taken into account.
Why this matters
Understanding the structure of individual foods can help you make more confident decisions when adjusting to a health diagnosis or long-term condition.
If you are organising meals, tracking intake or reflecting on patterns, you may find the Aardelia digital journals helpful.