Wait A Minute – Those Numbers Don’t Seem Right

Yes, I noticed that as well. The quantities are not the same for all the entries and I guess it’s easy to come at the top of the list if you just have more than anyone else.

So, what I did is a bunch more research about this at the US Department of Health and Human Services. What I did is try to get all the quantities to be in ounces and then divide the calcium amount by the ounces to get a ranked list.

This first table shows the contenders and I set 1 cup = 8 ounces.

	Measure	Adjusted	Calcium mg	Calories
Romano cheese	1.5 oz	1.5	452	165
Pasteurized processed Swiss cheese	2 oz	2	438	190
Provolone cheese	1.5 oz	1.5	321	150
Cheddar cheese	1.5 oz	1.5	307	171
Pasteurized process American cheese	2 oz	2	323	188
Blue cheese	1.5 oz	1.5	225	150
Mozzarella cheese, whole milk	1.5 oz	1.5	215	128
Feta cheese	1.5 oz	1.5	210	113
Sardines, Atlantic (with bone)	3 oz	3	325	177
Ricotta cheese, whole milk	½ cup	4	255	214
Pink salmon (with bone)	3 oz	3	181	118
Plain yogurt, non-fat	8 oz	8	452	127
Plain yogurt, low-fat	8 oz	8	415	143
Soy beverage, calcium fortified	1 cup	8	368	98
Fruit yogurt, low-fat	8 oz	8	345	232
Fat-free (skim) milk	1 cup	8	306	83
1% low-fat milk	1 cup	8	290	102
2% reduced fat milk	1 cup	8	285	122
Buttermilk, low-fat	1 cup	8	284	98
Whole milk	1 cup	8	276	146
Yogurt, plain, whole milk	8 oz	8	275	138

This next chart shows the results by weight along with the %RDA per ounce

	mg/ounce	% RDA
Romano cheese	301.33	20.09
Pasteurized processed Swiss cheese	219.00	14.60
Provolone cheese	214.00	14.27
Cheddar cheese	204.67	13.64
Pasteurized process American cheese	161.50	10.77
Blue cheese	150.00	10.00
Mozzarella cheese, whole milk	143.33	9.56
Feta cheese	140.00	9.33
Sardines, Atlantic (with bone)	108.33	7.22
Ricotta cheese, whole milk	63.75	4.25
Pink salmon (with bone)	60.33	4.02
Plain yogurt, non-fat	56.50	3.77
Plain yogurt, low-fat	51.88	3.46
Soy beverage, calcium fortified	46.00	3.07
Fruit yogurt, low-fat	43.13	2.88
Fat-free (skim) milk	38.25	2.55
1% low-fat milk	36.25	2.42
2% reduced fat milk	35.63	2.38
Buttermilk, low-fat	35.50	2.37
Whole milk	34.50	2.30
Yogurt, plain, whole milk	34.37	2.29

I do have to say that these figures do not quite jive with other figures I have seen quoted on the net and there are some discrepancies here like adding calcium fortified soy milk, but not calcium fortified cow milk.

The final chart is order by mg of calcium per calorie – just in case the calories you consume are important to you.

	mg/calorie	% RDA
Soy beverage, calcium fortified	3.76	6.53
Fat-free (skim) milk	3.69	5.53
Plain yogurt, non-fat	3.56	8.47
Plain yogurt, low-fat	2.90	9.53
Buttermilk, low-fat	2.90	6.53
1% low-fat milk	2.84	6.80
Romano cheese	2.74	11.00
2% reduced fat milk	2.34	8.13
Pasteurized processed Swiss cheese	2.31	12.67
Provolone cheese	2.14	10.00
Yogurt, plain, whole milk	1.99	9.20
Whole milk	1.89	9.73
Feta cheese	1.86	7.53
Sardines, Atlantic (with bone)	1.84	11.80
Cheddar cheese	1.80	11.40
Pasteurized process American cheese	1.72	12.53
Mozzarella cheese, whole milk	1.68	8.53
Pink salmon (with bone)	1.53	7.87
Blue cheese	1.50	10.00
Fruit yogurt, low-fat	1.49	15.47
Ricotta cheese, whole milk	1.19	14.27

Next post I’ll take a look at what these charts mean.

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Tags: cheese, yogurt, RDA%, milk, dietary guidlines, salmon, low fat, Calcium, sardines