Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Cottage Cheese: Nutrition & Labelgrade B- (74/100)
B- 74 / 100 — A clean, organic, whole-milk cottage cheese: 17g of protein per half-cup, a genuinely short five-ingredient label, no gums or stabilizers, and zero added sugar. The Labelgrade is held in B- territory by two structural traits of full-fat cottage cheese — the saturated fat that comes with whole milk and cream, and the salt that cottage cheese relies on for flavor and shelf life. Honest read: one of the better packaged cottage cheeses you can buy; the whole-milk version trades a few points of grade for a richer texture.
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Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Classic Cottage Cheese delivers 16.8 g of protein for 132 calories in a 1/2-cup (120 g) serving (USDA FDC 2755737) — about 14 g of protein per 100 g, doubling to roughly 34 g in a full cup. This is whole-milk cottage cheese done about as cleanly as the category allows: a five-ingredient organic label with no gums, no stabilizers, no carrageenan, and no added sugar. It earns a B- (74 / 100). Ingredient quality grades B+ and sugar is a perfect A+; the grade is capped by the two things that come bundled with full-fat cottage cheese — saturated fat from the cream, and the salt the product needs for flavor and shelf life. The non-obvious part: going whole-milk doesn’t cost you protein. It costs you a few points of saturated-fat grade in exchange for a richer spoonful.
Why the B-
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | B- | 71 / 100 | 14 g per 100 g — and the densest of the three cottage cheeses we compare, above the low-fat versions. The per-serving total (16.8 g, ~34 g per cup) is the real story |
| Ingredient quality | B+ | 83 / 100 | A genuinely short, organic label: skim milk, whole milk, cream, Celtic sea salt, one live culture. No gums, no carrageenan, no added sugar |
| Saturated fat load | B+ | 80 / 100 | 3.6 g per serving from the whole milk and cream — moderate, and the single dimension that separates it from a top-grade low-fat tub |
| Sodium load | C | 64 / 100 | 408 mg per 1/2-cup — meaningful, but structural for cottage cheese and actually a bit lower than its low-fat siblings |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 3.6 g, all naturally-occurring lactose — no added sugar |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g — expected for a dairy protein, and the formula doesn’t pretend otherwise |
Two of these six are doing all the damping. Saturated fat (B+) is the honest knock — 3.6 g is the direct cost of using real cream instead of skim, and it’s the one number a low-fat tub beats it on. Sodium (C) is the category’s universal weak spot rather than a Good Culture failing; at 408 mg this whole-milk tub is in fact milder than the brand’s own low-fat Classic. The F on fiber is structural and shared by every plain dairy protein on the site.
The whole-milk paradox: same fat, more protein per gram
The instinct is that “whole milk” means more fat and therefore less of everything else — including protein. With this tub that’s backwards. Side by side per 100 g:
| Cottage cheese | Protein / 100 g | Saturated fat | Sodium | Added sugar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Culture Organic Whole Milk (this) | ~14 g | 3.6 g / serving | 408 mg | 0 g |
| Good Culture Classic (low-fat) | ~12.7 g | 2 g / serving | 460 mg | 0 g |
| Daisy 2% Low Fat | ~13 g | 1.8 g / serving | 432 mg | 0 g |
The whole-milk version is the most protein-dense per gram of the three, and the lowest in sodium — it just carries more saturated fat. So the real decision isn’t “more protein or less fat,” it’s “richer, denser, higher-saturated-fat” versus “lighter and lower-calorie.” If you’re counting saturated fat, the low-fat Classic or Daisy 2% are the smarter grab. If you want the creamiest, most protein-packed spoonful and the fat is on-plan (keto, bulking, or you just prefer the texture), the whole-milk tub is the pick — and it gives up nothing on the clean-label front.
A five-ingredient organic label that earns its B+
What pulls ingredient quality up to 83 isn’t marketing — it’s what’s absent. Conventional cottage cheese routinely carries carrageenan, guar or locust bean gum, modified food starch, or maltodextrin to control curd and texture. This label has none of them. It’s organic skim milk, organic whole milk, organic cream, Celtic sea salt, and a single live culture (lactobacillus paracasei) — and the “organic” qualifier on the dairy is real, not a front-of-pack flourish. That live culture is also a genuine functional ingredient: it’s the cottage-cheese equivalent of the active cultures in yogurt. For a packaged, shelf-stable-ish dairy product, getting to a five-item, gum-free, organic panel is rare, and it’s the single biggest reason this tub out-grades most of the cottage-cheese aisle.
Whole-food equivalent
One serving (16.8 g protein) ≈ 54 g of cooked chicken breast (about 1.9 oz), and a full cup lands near a small chicken-breast portion in protein terms. What cottage cheese gives you over chicken is zero prep, a creamy texture that works sweet (with fruit) or savory (with pepper and olive oil), and the live culture; what you trade is the saturated fat from the cream and the sodium. As a no-cook, spoon-from-the-tub protein you keep in the fridge, it’s one of the most efficient options in the dairy case.
Where it sits, and who should pick it
Good Culture makes this whole-milk Classic (4% milkfat), a low-fat Classic, and a Double Cream (6%) version, all sharing the same short, organic, gum-free label. This 16 oz tub (UPC 00859977005064, USDA FDC 2755737) is the middle of that range: richer and denser than the low-fat, lighter than the Double Cream. Buy it if you want the creamiest texture and the highest protein-per-gram and the saturated fat fits your day; step down to the low-fat Classic or Daisy 2% if cutting saturated fat is the priority. Either way the protein and clean-label story hold up — see them side by side on the Good Culture brand page.
Ingredients
Organic skim milk, organic whole milk, organic cream, Celtic sea salt, and live and active cultures (lactobacillus paracasei). Five items, all organic dairy plus salt and a culture — no gums, no carrageenan, no added sugar. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2755737.)
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 1/2 cup (120 g)
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (1/2 cup (120 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 132 |
| Protein | 16.8g |
| Total Fat | 5.4g |
| Saturated Fat | 3.6g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 3.6g |
| Total Sugars | 3.6g |
| Sodium | 408mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Classic Cottage Cheese (16 oz (453 g) tub) · UPC 00859977005064. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains no listed meat or fish
no wheat, barley, rye, or malt detected in USDA ingredient list
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Cottage Cheese?
16.8 g per 1/2-cup (120 g) serving for 132 calories (USDA FDC 2755737) — about 14 g per 100 g. A full one-cup portion roughly doubles that to about 34 g, which puts cottage cheese among the most protein-dense things you can spoon out of a tub.
Is the whole-milk version actually less protein-dense than the low-fat one?
No — it's the opposite, which surprises people. Per 100 g, the whole-milk tub runs about 14 g of protein; Good Culture's own low-fat Classic is ~12.7 g and Daisy 2% is ~13 g. The fat doesn't dilute the protein here; whole-milk cottage cheese is the densest of the three per gram. What the low-fat versions buy you is fewer calories and less saturated fat, not more protein.
Then why does it grade a notch lower than the low-fat versions?
Almost entirely saturated fat. The organic whole milk and cream push it to 3.6 g of saturated fat per serving, which scores B+ (80) — versus the A-range that Good Culture's low-fat Classic and Daisy 2% earn on that one dimension. Protein, sugar, and ingredient quality are comparable or better; the grade gap is the fat trade-off, not a quality problem.
What's in it — any gums or stabilizers?
No. The label is five items: organic skim milk, organic whole milk, organic cream, Celtic sea salt, and a live culture (lactobacillus paracasei). No gums, carrageenan, thickeners, modified starch, or added sugar — which is why ingredient quality grades B+ (83), unusually clean for packaged cottage cheese.
How much sodium does it have, and how does that compare?
408 mg per 1/2-cup — about 18% of the 2,300 mg daily limit, and a C (64) on the sodium dimension. It's structural: cottage cheese leans on salt for flavor and preservation. It's actually a touch lower than the low-fat Good Culture Classic (460 mg) and Daisy 2% (432 mg), so among cottage cheeses it's typical, not high. Eat a full cup and you're near 36% of the daily limit before anything else on the plate.
Does it have added sugar?
No added sugar. The 3.6 g of sugar per serving is naturally-occurring lactose from the milk and cream, so the sugar dimension grades a perfect A+ (100).
Is it keto-friendly?
Reasonably. 3.6 g total carbs, 3.6 g sugar (all lactose), 5.4 g fat, and 16.8 g protein per serving fit most low-carb plans — and the whole-milk fat actually works in your favor on keto versus the nonfat version, since the extra fat is on-plan rather than a penalty.