Processed Cheddar
Food · Dairy · Food, Typed Supps
1,420 mg of sodium per hundred — more than double natural cheddar.
Stage by stage
- Smooth melt (The slice): Emulsifying salts stop the fat and protein splitting when heated.
- Diluted (Stomach): Protein at 18.2 g per 100 g, about a quarter below natural cheddar.
- Sodium (Circulation): 1,420 mg per 100 g — a slice is around 284 mg.
- Phosphate (Kidney): Additive phosphate is far more absorbable than food phosphate, which matters in kidney disease.
Timing
Nothing to time. The substitution to grated natural cheese is the whole intervention.
Time to effect
- Per slice: Around 284 mg of sodium at 20 g.
- 2–4 weeks: Blood pressure response to reduced sodium.
Allergens
Contains: Milk. May contain: Mustard, Soya. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.
Satiety
100 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — moderate. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.
Environmental footprint
23.9 kg CO2e and 5605 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Cheese" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.
Cost band
Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.
Key nutrients
Nutrition per 100g
- Calories: 300
- Protein: 18.2g
- Carbohydrate: 1.9g
- of which sugars: 1.5g
- Fat: 23.9g
- of which saturated: 16g
- Sodium: 1420mg
Food vs. supplement
Additive phosphate from emulsifying salts is absorbed at a much higher rate than the phosphate naturally present in food, which is why processed cheese matters more in renal diets than its protein content alone suggests.
Kitchen tip
Grate natural cheddar instead of slicing it. It melts fine that way, and you halve the sodium.
Common myth
“Cheese slices are just cheddar in a convenient shape.” In reality: They carry 1,420 mg of sodium per 100 g against natural cheddar’s 686, and about a quarter less protein. The difference is emulsifying salts — sodium compounds added so it melts smoothly — plus water. A slice has roughly the sodium of a slice of bread, and almost nobody counts it.
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