Cottage Cheese Scorecard
Full Report
Cottage Cheese at a Glance
Press Release
Cottage Cheese Scorecard Scoring Criteria
The dairy case just got more crowded. A resurgence in the cottage cheese market means more choice for consumers—and the end result isn’t so easy to digest.
The Cornucopia Institute’s report, Weighing the Curds, provides dairy consumers with a vital tool for separating nutritious cottage cheese options from overly processed products.
The accompanying mobile-friendly scorecard rates more than 100 products and helps consumers find cottage cheese made from the best organic milk and with the fewest additives. The scorecard also identifies products that contain troubling ingredients, such as sugar, carrageenan (a potent inflammatory agent), and other added thickeners and gums.
Simple cottage cheese made with milk from Cornucopia’s most highly rated organic dairies received our coveted five spoon rating. Products lost points for long ingredient lists and unnecessary additives. Cottage cheese made from conventional milk received no more than three spoons.
The findings are another reminder of the importance of choosing organic dairy products with grass-fed cows’ milk, which can have increased nutritional benefits when compared to its conventionally produced counterpart. According to researchers at Emory University, conventional milk may also contain pesticides, antibiotics, and synthetic hormone residues.
Read Weighing the Curds to dig into Cornucopia’s research, including a basic recipe to make your own cottage cheese from the organic, grass milk of your choice.
