Feta: very salty, and studied as ordinary cheese

Feta is salty before it is anything else. Our USDA entry for crumbled whole milk feta puts it at 1034 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), next to 371 mg of calcium, 19.7 g of protein and 11.2 g of saturated fat. The cheese research people quote at you was almost never done on feta. Pooling seven randomized trials, eating about 4.8 oz (135 g) of cheese a day in place of about 1.8 oz (52 g) of butter lowered LDL cholesterol by 7.3 mg/dL (0.19 mmol/L), and an earlier review of five trials put the same swap at 6.5 percent. Those trials fed hard cheese, and the thing cheese beat was butter. When the same reviewers compared cheese with tofu or with a modified cheese, cholesterol went up. We hold no trial that fed anyone feta. So read the cholesterol findings on this page as findings about cheese in general, and read the sodium as the one number here measured in feta itself. For scale, WHO strongly recommends that adults keep sodium below 2 g a day, and less for children, so 3.5 oz (100 g) of feta holds about half of that. In pregnancy the question is listeria. CDC lists feta among safer cheese choices for pregnant women when it is made with pasteurized milk, and puts soft cheese from raw milk among riskier ones. CDC also says about 1 in 25,000 pregnant women in the US get Listeria each year, and 1 in 4 of them lose the pregnancy or the baby shortly after birth.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What your body absorbs

• In a crossover RCT in 15 young men, a semihard cheese diet with 1,700 mg calcium a day raised fat lost in the stool to 5.7 g a day. On a non-dairy diet with the same fat it was 3.9 g, so about 1.8 g a day less fat was absorbed. — healthy young men (n = 15) Evidence B source
  Fecal fat 5.7 g/d on a semihard cheese diet (1700 mg calcium) and 5.2 g/d on milk, against 3.9 g/d on a non-dairy diet (500 mg calcium), P < 0.001

What cooking and storage change

• CDC outbreak analysts write that soft cheeses made with pasteurized milk are generally considered safe, but some were contaminated in facilities with poor processing conditions, which a label cannot reveal. — Soft-cheese listeriosis outbreaks, United States, 1998-2014 (n = 17 outbreaks) Evidence C source
  Pasteurized soft cheese generally considered safe; some contaminated after pasteurization in facilities with improper processing; not detectable from the label
• A meta-analysis of 30 studies on sheep and goat milk cheeses, the milk feta is made from, reported pooled contamination of 11% for Listeria and 34% for Brucella, mostly in cheese from untreated milk. — 30 studies of caprine or ovine milk cheeses, mostly European small holdings (n = 30 studies) Evidence C source
  Listeria spp. 11%, Brucella spp. 34%, Salmonella spp. 3%, Staphylococcus spp. 25%

What it does to your health

• Eating about 5.1 oz (145 g) of hard cheese a day instead of butter with the same fat quality lowered LDL cholesterol by 6.5 percent in a meta-analysis of 5 randomized trials. — healthy adults in 5 randomized controlled trials pooled out of 12 identified (n = 5 trials) Evidence A source
  LDL cholesterol -8.5 mg/dL (95% CI -11 to -5.4; metric: -0.22 mmol/L, -0.29 to -0.14), that is -6.5 percent, HDL -1.9 mg/dL (-0.05 mmol/L), no change in triglycerides
• Swapping about 1.8 oz (52 g) of butter for 4.8 oz (135 g) of cheese a day for two weeks or longer lowered total cholesterol by 9.3 mg/dL (0.24 mmol/L) and LDL by 7.3 mg/dL (0.19 mmol/L) in a pooled analysis of 7 randomized trials. — adults in 7 randomized controlled trials of at least 14 days, out of 10 articles included (n = 7 trials) Evidence A source
  Total cholesterol -9.3 mg/dL (95% CI -13 to -5.8; metric: -0.24 mmol/L, -0.34 to -0.15), LDL -7.3 mg/dL (95% CI -10 to -4.6; metric: -0.19 mmol/L, -0.27 to -0.12), HDL -1.5 mg/dL (-0.04 mmol/L)
• On a diet of 5500 mg of sodium a day, the response of small vessels to acetylcholine fell in 11 older adults, and on the same sodium with 6 oz (170 g) of cheese it did not fall significantly. In 11 people over eight days that is an absence of a measured fall, not a demonstrated protection. — 11 adults aged about 64 years without salt sensitive blood pressure, four 8-day controlled diets in random order (n = 11) Evidence B source
  Response to acetylcholine fell on the high sodium diet (-4.82 against -3.21 M logEC50, P = 0.03) but not on the high sodium diet with 6 oz (170 g) of cheese
• In pooled data from two trials with 197 adults, it was within the female group that 4.2 oz (120 g) of cheese a day lowered total and LDL cholesterol, while the same fat taken apart into butter and calcium caseinate raised those markers. — 197 middle aged adults, 41.6 percent male, 6 weeks, about 40 g of fat a day in each arm (n = 197) Evidence B source
  Within the female group cheese lowered total and LDL cholesterol and deconstructed cheese raised the same markers; no sex by treatment interaction

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a 2008 brucellosis outbreak on the Greek island of Thassos, eating locally produced raw cheese raised the odds of Brucella melitensis infection about 15-fold. — Cases and matched controls, island of Thassos, Greece, spring 2008 Evidence C source
  OR 15.1 (95% CI 6.56 to 34.7) for raw local cheese
• Coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus was found in 12 percent of 50 feta samples made from pasteurized milk in Egypt, and 4 percent of the samples carried a toxin gene. — 50 samples of pasteurized milk feta cheese, 100 raw milk samples and 75 hand swabs in Beni-Suef, Egypt (n = 50) Evidence C source
  12 percent of feta samples positive for coagulase positive S. aureus, 4 percent positive for toxin producing isolates
• In the same Egyptian survey Campylobacter jejuni turned up in 14 percent of Kareish cheese samples and in none of the feta samples. — 150 samples of three cheese types and 50 raw milk samples, Beni-Suef, Egypt (n = 200) Evidence C source
  Campylobacter in 9.5 percent of milk and cheese samples overall, 18 percent of milk, 14 percent of Kareish, 6 percent of Talaga and none of feta
• WHO strongly recommends that adults keep sodium below 2 g a day, which is 5 g of salt, and that the limit be adjusted down for children. — adults and children Evidence E source
  Below 2 g sodium (5 g salt) a day for adults, strong recommendation; lower for children by energy needs

What people believe that the data does not support

• CDC lists feta among safer cheese choices for pregnant women when it is made with pasteurized milk. — Pregnant women, CDC food safety guidance Evidence E source
  Pasteurized feta listed as a safer choice
• CDC lists soft cheese made from unpasteurized raw milk, such as queso fresco, brie, camembert and blue-veined cheese, among riskier choices in pregnancy. — Pregnant women, CDC food safety guidance Evidence E source
  Raw-milk soft cheese listed as a riskier choice

Who this works differently for

• Of 58 US listeriosis outbreaks in 1998 to 2014, 17 were linked to soft cheese, causing 180 illnesses, 14 fetal losses and 17 deaths, and 44% of cases with data were pregnancy-associated. — 17 soft-cheese listeriosis outbreaks reported to the US Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, 1998-2014 (n = 58 outbreaks) Evidence C source
  17 of 58 outbreaks (30%) from soft cheese; 180 illnesses, 14 fetal losses, 17 deaths; 62 of 140 cases (44%) pregnancy-associated
• A 2026 systematic review of 73 Chinese studies found that 58.3% of pregnancies with listeriosis ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity or low birth weight. — 956 pregnant women and 749 neonates with listeriosis in 73 studies from 19 Chinese provinces (n = 73 studies) Evidence C source
  Major adverse pregnancy outcome (miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity or low birth weight) in 58.3% of pregnancies; two maternal deaths
• An umbrella review of 9 systematic reviews states that the risk of listeriosis is higher in pregnancy and that it can cause miscarriage, preterm birth, stillbirth and newborn infection. — 9 systematic reviews covering 330 studies and 487 patients (n = 9 reviews) Evidence C source
  Higher risk of diagnosis in pregnancy; outcomes include miscarriage, preterm birth, stillbirth, congenital infection
• During the 2011 US cantaloupe Listeria outbreak, about 1 in 10,000 exposed pregnant women in Colorado developed listeriosis. — Pregnant women in Colorado; 6,500 to 12,000 estimated to have eaten contaminated cantaloupe (n = 1060 surveyed) Evidence C source
  Attack rate about 1 per 10,000 exposed pregnant women; 6,500 to 12,000 estimated exposed
• Across 160 studies with 16,443 people, each extra 50 mmol of daily sodium went with 1.76 mm Hg higher systolic pressure. The share of salt-sensitive people rose from 12.5% under age 40 to 56.5% at 60 and over, and from 16.3% to 54.1% with higher baseline pressure. — 160 studies with 255 estimates, adults (n = 16443) Evidence C source
  +1.76 mm Hg systolic per 50 mmol/d more urinary sodium (95% CI 1.54 to 1.98); salt-sensitive phenotype 12.5% under 40 years to 56.5% at 60 and over, 16.3% at SBP under 120 to 54.1% at 130 and over
• CDC says about 1 in 25,000 pregnant women in the US get Listeria each year. Of those, 1 in 4 lose the pregnancy or the baby shortly after birth. — pregnant women in the United States Evidence E source
  About 1 in 25,000 pregnant women infected each year; 1 in 4 of those lose the pregnancy or the baby shortly after birth

The bottom line

If someone has told you to watch salt, feta is the cheese to watch, and no card on this page measured what feta itself does to blood pressure. For sodium in general, across 160 studies with 16,443 people, each extra 50 mmol a day, about 1.15 g of sodium or roughly 3.9 oz (110 g) of feta, went with 1.76 mm Hg higher systolic pressure. The share of salt-sensitive people rose from 12.5% under age 40 to 56.5% at 60 and over. The one trial that put cheese and salt in the same experiment ran eight days on eleven adults around 64 years old, all picked because their blood pressure does not react to salt. On 5500 mg of sodium a day, the small vessels in their skin responded less well to acetylcholine. On the same sodium with 6 oz (170 g) of cheese that fall did not reach significance, which is not the same as the cheese keeping those vessels open. Eleven people, eight days, and a measurement in skin rather than anything a person feels. It is a reason to keep asking the question. It is no reason to reach for the salt. Whether women get more out of cheese than men is open in the same way. In pooled data from two trials with 197 middle aged adults, it is within the female group that 4.2 oz (120 g) of cheese a day lowered total and LDL cholesterol while the same fat taken apart into butter and calcium caseinate pushed those markers up. That was a secondary analysis with no interaction between sex and treatment, so the difference sits inside the groups and never showed up between them. Contamination is where the safety evidence sits. Across 30 studies of sheep and goat milk cheeses, the milk feta is made from, pooled contamination was 11% for Listeria and 34% for Brucella, mostly in cheese from untreated milk. In a 2008 brucellosis outbreak on the Greek island of Thassos, eating local raw cheese raised the odds of infection about 15-fold. Pasteurization is not a full guarantee. CDC outbreak analysts write that some pasteurized soft cheeses were contaminated in facilities with poor processing, which a label cannot reveal. Of 58 US listeriosis outbreaks in 1998 to 2014, 17 were linked to soft cheese of any kind, with 180 illnesses, 14 fetal losses and 17 deaths. In Egypt, 12 percent of 50 samples of pasteurized feta carried coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus and 4 percent a toxin gene, which is a gene rather than proof that any toxin was made in the cheese. A second survey from the same area found Campylobacter jejuni in 14 percent of Kareish cheese and in none of the feta, and none out of 50 only means the rate is under what that sample could see. We hold nothing on feta with medicines or in kidney disease. In pregnancy, the CDC position is feta made from pasteurized milk, and raw-milk soft cheese counts among the riskier choices. If someone is managing your blood pressure or your kidneys, ask them about the salt rather than a table.

Sources

1. hf2-feta-4 · randomized controlled trial
   Fifteen healthy, young men participated in a randomized 3 × 2-wk crossover study in which the following 3 isocaloric diets that were similar in fat contents and compositions were compared: control diet [nondairy diet (~500 mg Ca/d)], milk diet [semiskimmed milk-based diet (1700 mg Ca/d)], and cheese diet [semihard cow-cheese-based diet (1700 mg Ca/d)]. ... Fecal fat excretion increased more with the consumption of both the milk (5.2 ± 0.4 g/d) and cheese (5.7 ± 0.4 g/d) diets than with the control diet (3.9 ± 0.3 g/d) (P < 0.001).
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2014 · checked 2026-10-08
2. ev-fetapg-02 · retrospective observational outbreak analysis
   Soft cheeses made with pasteurized milk, including commercial cottage cheese, cream cheese, and processed mozzarella, are generally considered safe. However, some soft cheeses made with pasteurized milk, particularly Latin-style soft cheeses, have been produced in facilities with improper processing conditions, resulting in L. monocytogenes contamination. Consumers cannot evaluate the conditions under which a cheese was made on the basis of labeling or other attributes of the product.
   Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2018 (Jackson et al.) · checked 2026-10-06
3. ev-fetapg-05 · meta-analysis of prevalence studies
   The significantly contaminating microbes were found to be Acremonium spp. (19%), Aspergillus spp. (23%), Bacillus spp. (2%), Brucella spp. (34%), Enterobactericae spp. (36%), Enterococcus spp. (28%), Escherichia spp. (15%), Fusarium spp. (21%), Geotrichum spp. (22%), Listeria spp. (11%), Mucor spp. (15%), Penicillium spp. (25%), Phoma spp. (20%), Rhizopus spp. (15%), Salmonella spp. (3%), Scopulariopsis spp. (19%) and Staphylococcus spp. (25%) in caprine and ovine cheese, indicating a variety of food pathogens as well as spoilers.
   Food Res Int, 2020 · checked 2026-10-06
4. fetach-r3-01 · meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
   Compared with butter intake, cheese intake (weighted mean difference: 145.0 g/d) reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by 6.5% (-0.22 mmol/l; 95%CI: -0.29 to -0.14) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by 3.9% (-0.05 mmol/l; 95%CI: -0.09 to -0.02) but had no effect on triglycerides.
   Nutr Rev, 2015 · checked 2026-09-23
5. fetach-r3-02 · meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
   Pooled analyses of 7 RCTs showed a reduction in fasting total cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C concentrations after ≥14 d mean daily intake of 135 g cheese (weighted mean difference [WMD]: -0.24 mmol/L; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.34, -0.15; I2 = 59.8%, WMD: -0.19 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.27, -0.12; I2 = 42.8%, and WMD: -0.04 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.08, -0.00; I2 = 58.6%, respectively) relative to ∼52 g/d butter.
   Adv Nutr, 2023 · checked 2026-09-23
6. fetach-r3-03 · randomized crossover trial
   Compared with LNa, microvascular responsiveness to ACh was attenuated during HNa (LNa: -4.82 ± 0.20 versus HNa: -3.21 ± 0.55 M logEC50; P = 0.03) but not LNaC (-5.44 ± 0.20 M logEC50) or HNaC (-4.46 ± 0.50 M logEC50).
   J Nutr, 2020 · checked 2026-09-23
7. fetach-r3-04 · randomized controlled trial, pooled secondary analysis
   Within the female group cheese lowered total and LDL cholesterol concentrations, whereas deconstructed cheese was found to increase the same lipid markers.
   Atherosclerosis, 2025 · checked 2026-09-23
8. ev-fetapg-06 · case-control study
   The study revealed that consumption of locally produced raw cheese was a risk factor for Brucella melitensis infection (odds ratio (OR): 15.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 6.56–34.7).
   Euro Surveill, 2012 · checked 2026-10-06
9. fetach-r3-05 · prevalence study
   Twelve (12/100), 12 (6/50), and 17% (13/75) of milk, cheese, and hand swab samples, respectively, were positive for coagulase positive S. aureus.
   J Food Sci, 2015 · checked 2026-09-23
10. fetach-r3-06 · prevalence study
    The highest prevalence was observed in milk samples (18%), followed by Kareish cheese (14%) and Talaga cheese (6%). In contrast, C. jejuni was not found in any of the Feta cheese samples.
    Foodborne Pathog Dis, 2021 · checked 2026-09-23
11. hf2-feta-1 · Agency guideline
    WHO recommends a reduction to <2 g/day sodium (5 g/day salt) in adults (strong recommendation). WHO recommends a reduction in sodium intake to control2 blood pressure in children (strong recommendation). The recommended maximum level of intake of 2 g/day sodium in adults should be adjusted downward based on the energy requirements of children relative to those of adults.
    WHO, 2012, Guideline: sodium intake for adults and children · checked 2026-10-08
12. ev-fetapg-08 · agency guidance
    Cottage cheese, cream cheese, string cheese, feta and mozzarella, when made with pasteurized milk
    CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · checked 2026-10-06
13. ev-fetapg-09 · agency guidance
    Soft cheese made from unpasteurized (raw) milk—for example, queso fresco, brie, camembert, and blue-veined cheese
    CDC, Safer Food Choices for Pregnant Women · checked 2026-10-06
14. ev-fetapg-01 · retrospective observational outbreak analysis
    Of 58 listeriosis outbreaks reported during 1998–2014, a total of 17 (30%) were associated with soft cheese (Figure), and resulted in 180 illnesses, 14 fetal losses, and 17 deaths (Technical Appendix Table). Most patients (146, 88%) were hospitalized. Of 116 patients for whom we had information on ethnicity, 38 (33%) were Hispanic. Of 140 cases with available data, 62 (44%) were pregnancy-associated.
    Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2018 (Jackson et al.) · checked 2026-10-06
15. ev-fetapg-03 · systematic review of observational studies
    Two maternal deaths were recorded, whereas major adverse outcomes (miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity, or low birth weight) occurred in 58.3% of pregnancies.
    Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2026 · checked 2026-10-06
16. ev-fetapg-04 · umbrella review
    Compared with the general population, the risk of being diagnosed with listeriosis increases during pregnancy. Listeriosis can lead to miscarriage, spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth, stillbirth and congenital neonatal infections.
    BJOG, 2022 · checked 2026-10-06
17. ev-fetapg-07 · observational outbreak study
    Approximately 6,500-12,000 pregnant women in Colorado might have eaten the contaminated cantaloupes, an attack rate of ~1 per 10,000 exposed pregnant women.
    Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol, 2015 · checked 2026-10-06
18. hf2-feta-2 · meta-regression
    We included 160 studies (255 estimates; n=16 443). Each 50-mmol/d higher urinary sodium excretion was associated with 1.76-mm Hg higher SBP (95% CI, 1.54-1.98). Age and baseline SBP were the strongest modifiers (0.41 mm Hg per 5 years; 0.23 mm Hg per 5 mm Hg). Salt-sensitive phenotype prevalence rose from 12.5% (age <40 years) to 56.5% (≥60 years) and from 16.3% (SBP <120 mm Hg) to 54.1% (≥130 mm Hg).
    Hypertension, 2026 · checked 2026-10-08
19. hf2-feta-3 · Agency guidance
    Every year in the United States, about 1 in 25,000 pregnant women are infected with Listeria. ... Sadly, 1 in 4 pregnant women who get this illness lose their pregnancy or their baby shortly after birth.
    CDC, Protect your pregnancy from Listeria (Listeria infection, people at risk) · checked 2026-10-08