Dairy foods are a rich source of nutrients such as protein, calcium, iodine, vitamin D and riboflavin, which are important for biological processes, and therefore, health. Food-based dietary guidelines generally recommend limiting consumption of full-fat dairy foods, such as cheese, owing to its’ saturated fat content, which has been linked to elevated cholesterol concentrations and can lead to increased cardiovascular disease risk. However, epidemiological evidence indicates dairy fat has neutral or beneficial effects on cardiovascular health,¹ with randomised controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrating that chronic consumption of an experimental dose of 120g/day of cheese has no detrimental effect on total and LDL concentrations.^2,3 The dairy matrix, the structure and interaction of proteins, fats and nutritive components is thought to be responsible, as unmelted, full-fat cheddar cheese has been shown to have more favourable effects on aspects of blood lipids compared to melted cheese,² deconstructed cheese ingredients^2,3 and a reduced-fat cheese and butter intervention.³

Ireland is in a unique position where cows graze outdoors for 8-10 months per year⁴ compared to other countries such as the USA and China, where cows are fed a partial or total mixed ration diet (TMR), comprising silage, straw and concentrates.⁴ Cheese derived from cows on pasture diets has a greater concentration of unsaturated fatty acids compared to cheese derived from TMR-fed cows.⁵ When eaten, pasture-fed cheese was found to lower circulating concentrations of saturated fatty acids in middle-aged, overweighthumans, compared to TMR-fed cheese over a 6-week period. This suggests than grass fed dairy, with an improved nutrient profile  and produced from a natural feeding system has a role in future diets and food-based dietary guidelines.

¹ Drouin-Chartier et al., 2016 Advances in nutrition.  ²O’Connor et al., 2024, Food & Function. ³ Feeney et al., 2018, AJCN.  ⁴O'Brien et al., 2018. Journal of dairy science.  ⁵Timlin et al., 2024,  Journal of Dairy Science