Wensleydale is a historic cow milk cheese that originates from Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. Before Wallace & Gromit made it a pop culture phenomenon, Wensleydale was a monastic cheese with a coloured history dating back to 1150. Presently, it comes in a number of different flavours. Read on to discover the nutrition facts for Wensleydale & Cranberries Cheese, their most popular variant.
SEE ALSO: Nutrition facts for popular world cheeses in The Cheese Scientist’s index →
Nutrition Facts Summary for Wensleydale & Cranberries Cheese
Like other pressed cooked cheeses, Wensleydale has low to no detectable levels of lactose. As a result, even the most sensitive lactose intolerant cheese lovers tends to be able to digest this flavoured British cheese comfortably.
All commercial versions of Wensleydale are made with pasteurised cow’s milk. This fact, combined with its low moisture content and lack of rind, make Wensleydale safe to eat during pregnancy.
However, flavoured Wensleydales such as Cranberry, Blueberry & Apricot contain a high amount of sugar. This is largely imparted by the fruit that is added to the cheese. As a result, they are not suitable for both type I and type II diabetics. On the flip side, the plain, original Wensleydale is much lower in sugar and can be consumed by diabetics.
Finally, even though it has a high fat content, the amount of sugar in Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese makes it unsuitable for people following a ketogenic diet.
References
Overall nutritional content
The nutritional content of cheese in our table comes from the USDA Food Data Central Repository, the Australian Food Composition Database and cheese manufacturers. We realise that there can be variations between different brands and producers. Hence, the numbers we have used are averages.
Fat content
Our fat RDI data comes from Cleveland Clinic’s Healthy Fat Intake resource.
Type of fat in cheese as per Harvard T.H. Chan’s The Nutrition Source.
Protein content
Our protein RDI data comes from Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health Publishing.
Cholesterol content
Is There a Correlation between Dietary and Blood Cholesterol? Evidence from Epidemiological Data and Clinical Interventions? – Maria Luz Fernandez and Ana Gabriela Murillo
Saturated fat, carbohydrate, and cardiovascular disease – Patty W Siri-Tarino, Qi Sun, Frank B Hu and Ronald M Krauss
Effect of cheese consumption on blood lipids: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials – Janette de Goede, Johanna M Geleijnse, Eric L Ding, Sabita S Soedamah-Muthu
Safety in pregnancy
All the advice relating to what cheeses you can eat during pregnancy in this article is based on the recommendations by health authorities in Australia, the UK and the USA. If you are unsure about what you can or cannot eat, please consult your doctor.
Australia – FSANZ, United Kingdom – NHS and United Sates of America – FDA
Lactose content
Lactose residual content in PDO cheeses
Detection of lactose in products with low lactose content
The analysis of lactose in milk and cheese products by HPLC
Food Standards ANZ Food Composition Database
Lactose & Galactose content of cheese
Cheese lover. Scientist. Created a website and a Youtube channel about cheese science because he could not find answers to his questions online.
