Cabot vs Tillamook Sharp Cheddar: Which Wins?
Two of America's most beloved block cheddars, both made by farmer-owned cooperatives, matched up sharp-for-sharp. On the numbers they're almost the same cheese — and both land at the same C grade. That C isn't a knock: it's the honest ceiling the whole cheese category hits, because saturated fat and sodium are inseparable from making real aged cheddar. Here's how they actually differ, with every figure pulled live from each product's graded fact sheet.
The short answer
Honestly? Pick by taste — the nutrition is a near-perfect tie. Tillamook Sharp Cheddar (Oregon co-op, founded 1909) edges it on paper: marginally lower sodium (170 mg vs 180 mg per ounce) and a hair higher ingredient-quality score, which is what puts it one point ahead overall. It tends to read creamier and milder.
Cabot Sharp Cheddar (Vermont co-op, founded 1919) matches it on protein, saturated fat, and calcium, and adds no annatto — it's an uncolored white cheddar, the one to choose if you want zero added colorants. It tends to read sharper and tangier.
The grades: Tillamook C (64/100), Cabot C (62/100). Both are genuinely excellent cheeses with about the cleanest labels in the aisle. The C reflects what cheese is — concentrated milkfat held together by salt — not anything either co-op did wrong.
Side-by-side
| Tillamook Sharp | Cabot Sharp | |
|---|---|---|
| Labelgrade | C 64 / 100 | C 62 / 100 |
| Serving size | 1 oz (28 g) | 1 oz (28 g) |
| Protein per oz | 7 g | 7 g |
| Protein per 100 g | 25 g | 25 g |
| Calories per oz | 110 | 110 |
| Saturated fat per oz | 6 g | 6 g |
| Sodium per oz | 170 mg | 180 mg |
| Sodium per 100 g | 607.1 mg | 642.9 mg |
| Calcium per oz | 200 mg | 200 mg |
| Sugar | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fiber | 0 g | 0 g |
| Added color | Annatto (orange) | None (white) |
| Ingredient count | 4 | 4 |
| Ownership | Farmer co-op (Oregon) | Farmer co-op (Vermont) |
| Protein density grade | A- | A- |
| Ingredient quality grade | B+ | B |
| Saturated fat grade | F | F |
| Sodium grade | F | F |
| Sugar grade | A+ | A+ |
| Fiber grade | F | F |
Where Tillamook wins
- Slightly lower sodium. 170 mg per ounce vs Cabot's 180 mg (607.1 mg vs 642.9 mg per 100 g) — the one nutrition number that separates them, and it earns Tillamook a F on sodium against Cabot's F. It's a 10 mg-per-ounce edge: real on the label, barely perceptible on the plate.
- Marginally higher ingredient-quality score. Tillamook grades B+ (82/100) vs Cabot's B (77/100) on the verified panels. Both are spotless four-ingredient cheeses — this is a small margin, and it's the other half of why Tillamook lands one point ahead overall.
- The classic orange, if you want it. The annatto gives Tillamook the familiar cheddar color a lot of people expect on a board or a burger — purely cosmetic, but a genuine preference for some.
Where Cabot wins
- No added colorant. Cabot's sharp is uncolored white cheddar — cultured milk, salt, enzymes, full stop, with no annatto. If your preference is the shortest possible "real food only" label with nothing added for looks, Cabot is the pick. (Note this doesn't lift its ingredient-quality score above Tillamook's — the formula doesn't reward omitting color — but it's a real difference for shoppers who care.)
- Sharper, tangier flavor. Cabot's Vermont style tends to bite harder and read tangier than Tillamook's creamier profile. If "sharp" to you means assertive, Cabot leans that way.
- Everything else matched. Cabot ties Tillamook exactly on protein (7 g), saturated fat (6 g), and calcium (200 mg) per ounce — so you give up nothing measurable on the macros by choosing it.
Where it's a tie
- Protein and calcium. 7 g of protein and 200 mg of calcium per ounce for both — that's ~25 g protein per 100 g and 15% of a day's calcium in a single slice, identical across the two.
- Saturated fat. 6 g per ounce for both, a structural F — the dimension that caps the whole cheese category, and the same for each.
- Sugar and fiber. 0 g sugar (a perfect A+ — the cultures eat the lactose) and 0 g fiber (F, unavoidable for any dairy) for both.
- Farmer-owned cooperatives. Both are member-owned dairy co-ops, not corporate brands — Tillamook in Oregon, Cabot in Vermont. A genuine shared point in both their favors.
Which should you buy
Buy Tillamook Sharp if you want the marginally better spec sheet — a touch less sodium, the slightly higher ingredient-quality score — and you like a creamier, milder cheddar (or you want the classic orange color). It's the technical winner here, by the smallest of margins.
Buy Cabot Sharp if you want an uncolored white cheddar with no added annatto, or you prefer a sharper, tangier bite. On every macro that matters it's identical to Tillamook, so you lose nothing measurable — this is a flavor-and-color call.
For everyone: the C grade is the headline worth internalizing. Both cheeses are excellent, but cheese is concentrated milkfat and salt by definition, so treat either as a dense flavor-and-protein accent — an ounce or two that adds 7–14 g of protein and a meaningful slug of calcium to a meal — rather than a base you eat by the half-block. Anyone on a strict low-sodium or low-saturated-fat plan should ration cheddar regardless of brand. See how the whole category grades in our cheese report card.
How they were graded
Both products use the v3 6-dimension Labelgrade formula (see /methodology): protein density 23% + ingredient quality 21% + saturated fat 18% + sodium 15% + sugar 15% + fiber 8%. Tillamook data from USDA FDC 399213; Cabot data from USDA FDC 2016397. The grade is an absolute scale, not a curve — so a category whose defining feature is concentrated milkfat (cheese) lands at C even when the specific product is about as clean as the category allows. Every figure on this page is read live from each product's record at build time, so the numbers can't drift out of sync with the individual fact sheets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which has more protein — Cabot or Tillamook sharp cheddar?
It's a dead tie. Both list 7 g of protein per 28 g (1 oz) serving — about 25 g per 100 g for each — for 110 calories. That density rivals cooked meat by weight, which is genuinely impressive for cheese. But a 1 oz serving is small, so cheddar works best as a flavor-and-protein accent on a meal rather than the way you'd hit a daily protein target. On protein, there is nothing to choose between these two.
Why are both capped at a C if they're such clean cheeses?
Because the grade scores the whole nutrition panel on an absolute scale, and two dimensions fail for both — saturated fat and sodium — and those are structural to aged cheddar, not a Cabot or Tillamook flaw. Each carries 6 g of saturated fat per ounce (~21.4–21.4 g per 100 g), enough that 100 g of cheese approaches the FDA's whole-day ceiling, and roughly 170–180 mg of sodium because salt is part of forming and aging the curd. No cheddar — organic, grass-fed, or boutique — escapes this, which is why the entire category lands in the C band. The C is honest, not harsh: it's a portion signal, not a "bad cheese" verdict.
Which is lower in sodium and saturated fat?
Saturated fat is identical: 6 g per ounce for both, a structural F on the grade. Sodium is where they part, barely: Tillamook runs 170 mg per ounce versus Cabot's 180 mg — a 607.1 mg vs 642.9 mg per-100-g gap that nudges Tillamook to a F on sodium against Cabot's F. It's a 10 mg difference per ounce, which is real on the spec sheet but trivial on the plate.
What's the difference in ingredients?
Both are four-ingredient cheeses. Cabot is cultured milk, salt, enzymes — and notably no added color, so it's a white sharp cheddar. Tillamook is cultured milk, salt, enzymes, and annatto, a seed-derived pigment added only to give it the classic orange hue (it has no flavor or nutritional role). Tillamook actually scores a touch higher on the ingredient-quality dimension (B+, 82/100 vs Cabot's B, 77/100) — the formula doesn't penalize annatto, and the scores reflect the verified panels. If you specifically want zero added colorants, Cabot's uncolored block is the one to reach for; if you don't mind the annatto, both panels are about as clean as the cheese aisle gets.
How do the Labelgrade scores compare?
As close as two products get: Tillamook Sharp scores C (64/100) and Cabot Sharp scores C (62/100) on the same v3 6-dimension formula — one point apart, both a C. They tie on protein density (both A-), saturated fat (both F), sugar (both A+), and fiber (both F). Tillamook's single-point edge is its slightly lower sodium and slightly higher ingredient-quality score. This is a coin-flip on the numbers — choose by flavor.