Feta cheese is a Greek cheese traditionally made from sheep milk. Today, both cow and goat milk are also frequently used for making feta. A soft, white and crumbly cheese, feta is preserved in a salt brine and usually best eaten soon after it is made. A quality food source, feta cheese provides many important nutrients.
Contents
A 1/2-cup serving of feta cheese weighs 85 g. According to the USDA Nutrient Database, around 10 g of this amount is protein. The same serving also has 15 g or 25 percent of the daily recommended amount of dietary fat, with about 11 g of that amount saturated fat. Feta cheese also contains about 3 g of carbohydrates per 1/2-cup serving. The rest of the serving is made of other nutrients and water.
Caloric Value
The USDA Nutrient Database indicates that there are around 200 calories in a 1/2-cup serving of feta cheese. Over 70 percent of those calories, or approximately 140 calories total, come from fat. Protein makes up 40 calories and the remaining 20 calories are available from carbohydrates.
Vitamins
Feta cheese is also a good source of many of the vitamins you need each day. According to the dietary reference intakes from the Institute of Medicine, a single 1/2-cup serving contains 1.3 mcg of vitamin B12 or over 50 percent of the daily requirement, 0.6 mg of riboflavin at 50 percent, 0.3 mcg of vitamin B6 at 23 percent, 0.7 mg of pantothenic acid for 14 percent and 316 IU of vitamin A at 12 percent of the daily requirement. Lesser amounts of other vitamins include 0.12 mg of thiamine at about 9 percent, 0.75 mg of niacin for 5 percent and 24 mcg of folate for around 5 percent. Trace amounts of vitamin E and vitamin K are also in feta cheese.
Minerals
Essential minerals are also available from eating feta cheese. These include 370 mg of calcium for almost 30 percent, 253 mg of phosphorus for approximately 35 percent, 2 mg of zinc at around 20 percent and 11 mcg of selenium at over 20 percent of what an adult requires on a daily basis. Feta cheese is especially high in sodium at 837 mg per 1/2-cup serving or over 80 percent of the daily requirement. Trace amounts of other minerals, including iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese, are also available from feta cheese.
Other Information
A 1/2-cup serving of feta cheese contains about 67 mg of cholesterol or 22 percent of the recommended amount per day for the average adult. Feta cheese is not a significant source of dietary fiber.
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