Kraft Mozzarella String Cheese: Nutrition & Labelgrade C+ (69/100)
C+ 69 / 100 — Surprisingly strong overall score for a kid-snack-aisle product. 25 g protein per 100 g is denser than plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, and the 5-ingredient list (pasteurized part-skim milk, vinegar, salt, enzymes, vitamin A palmitate) is genuinely clean. Sodium is the main critique — 750 mg per 100 g is high, which is structural for cheese rather than a Kraft-specific decision. A great kid snack or low-carb adult portion.
🛒 Buy on Amazon →The short answer
Kraft Mozzarella String Cheese delivers 6 g of protein for 60 calories per stick (24 g) (USDA FDC 2617595) — the lunchbox-staple, peel-and-pull mozzarella that turns a snack into a portion-controlled protein hit. Gram for gram it’s denser than Greek yogurt: 25 g of protein per 100 g, off a 5-ingredient label that’s genuinely clean for the kid-snack aisle. It earns a C+ (69/100). The protein and ingredients punch above the category; sodium is the catch that keeps it out of the B range.
Why the C+
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | A- | 88 / 100 | 25 g per 100 g — denser than any plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in our database. Part-skim mozzarella is one of the leanest cheeses, so the protein isn’t diluted by fat |
| Ingredient quality | B+ | 82 / 100 | Five recognizable ingredients: part-skim milk, vinegar (the coagulant), salt, non-animal enzymes, vitamin A palmitate. No oils, gums, or fillers |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0 g sugar — the lactose ferments off during cheesemaking |
| Saturated fat | C- | 55 / 100 | 2 g per stick, but 8 g per 100 g — elevated; it stacks up if you eat sticks by the handful |
| Sodium load | F | 27 / 100 | 180 mg per stick is modest, but 750 mg per 100 g is high. Salt is part of how cheese is made, so this is structural — not a Kraft-specific choice |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g, unavoidable for any cheese |
The honest read: this is an A-range protein snack with two F’s that are baked into cheese itself. Sodium and saturated fat are the price of admission for the category, and the small serving is what keeps both manageable per snack. The grade rewards a clean, protein-dense formulation while refusing to pretend cheese is a low-sodium food.
The serving size is doing the heavy lifting
The single most important number on this label isn’t the protein — it’s the 24 g serving. String cheese looks dramatically better or worse depending on whether you read it per-stick or per-100 g, and both are true at once:
- Per stick: 6 g protein, 60 calories, 180 mg sodium, 2 g saturated fat. A tidy, portion-controlled snack.
- Per 100 g: 25 g protein, 250 calories, 750 mg sodium, 8 g saturated fat. Dense protein, but a serious sodium load.
A stick is roughly four bites. That small portion is precisely why the sodium F doesn’t sink it as a snack — you’d have to eat five sticks (900 mg sodium) to approach a problem. The peel-and-pull format reinforces the discipline: stringing it out is slow, deliberate eating, which is exactly why it works as a kid snack and an adult low-carb nibble rather than something you inhale.
How it compares to the dairy-aisle protein staples
Shoppers cross-shop string cheese against Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, so here’s the honest split using the same per-100 g basis (computed from each product’s verified label):
| Per 100 g | Protein | Sodium | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Mozzarella String Cheese | 25 g | 750 mg | 250 |
| Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt | 10 g | 36 mg | 50 |
| Good Culture Cottage Cheese (Classic) | 13 g | 307 mg | 73 |
String cheese wins protein density outright — about 2.5x Fage and nearly 2x the cottage cheese per gram. But notice the sodium column: it carries roughly 20x Fage’s sodium per gram and more than double the cottage cheese’s. And because a single stick is so small, the yogurt and cottage cheese cups still deliver far more protein per serving (Fage’s 180 g cup = 18 g protein; a 150 g Good Culture serving = 19 g; one stick = 6 g). The takeaway: string cheese is the densest and most portable, the dairy cups are the bigger protein dose and far lower in sodium. If you want grab-and-go with no spoon, string cheese; if you want a high-protein, low-sodium meal, the cup.
Standard part-skim — not the light version
These are the standard part-skim mozzarella sticks, which is why the protein-to-fat ratio is already favorable: mozzarella is leaner than cheddar or gouda to begin with. Kraft also sells a “light” / reduced-fat string cheese (marketed at 50% less fat), which cuts the saturated-fat number but is a different formulation with its own Labelgrade — don’t assume these figures carry over. Per-stick nutrition here is identical whether you buy the 20 oz / 566 g bag (24 sticks, UPC 021000044719) or a smaller 6- or 12-count pack; only the count changes, not the stick.
Ingredients
Pasteurized part-skim milk, vinegar, salt, enzymes (non-animal), vitamin A palmitate. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2617595.) The vinegar is the acid that coagulates the milk, the non-animal enzymes are microbial rennet, and vitamin A palmitate replaces the vitamin A lost when the cream is skimmed off — a standard part-skim dairy addition, not a flavor or preservative agent.
Where to buy
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 1 stick (24 g)
See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (1 stick (24 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 60 |
| Protein | 6g |
| Total Fat | 3.5g |
| Saturated Fat | 2g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 1g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Total Sugars | 0g |
| Added Sugars | 0g |
| Sodium | 180mg |
| Cholesterol | 10mg |
| Calcium | 140mg |
| Iron | 0mg |
| Potassium | 0mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Kraft Mozzarella String Cheese Snacks (20 oz (566 g)) · UPC 021000044719. 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 one Kraft Mozzarella String Cheese stick?
6 grams per stick (24 g), for 60 calories (USDA FDC 2617595). That's 25 g of protein per 100 g — denser, gram-for-gram, than plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. The 20 oz package holds 24 sticks, so roughly 144 g of protein across the bag.
Is string cheese 'real' cheese, and why does it peel?
Yes — it's a low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, the same cheese on a pizza, made from pasteurized part-skim milk with vinegar as the coagulant. The peel-and-pull strings aren't an additive or a gimmick: heating and stretching the warm curd lines up its protein fibers in parallel bundles, and those aligned bundles are what tear away in strands when you pull a cold stick apart.
Why only a C+ if the protein and ingredients are this good?
The protein density (A-) and ingredient list (B+) are genuinely strong, but Labelgrade scores all six dimensions and sodium drags the average down. At 750 mg per 100 g, string cheese scores an F on sodium load, and the saturated fat (8 g per 100 g, a C-) pulls it down further. Those two structural cheese traits cap an otherwise A-range snack at C+.
Is the sodium actually a problem?
It depends on how you eat it. Per stick it's 180 mg — about 8% of the 2,300 mg daily limit, which is modest because the serving is tiny. The F grade reflects the per-100 g figure (750 mg), which matters if string cheese becomes a meal: five sticks is 900 mg of sodium, nearly 40% of a day's allowance. As a one-or-two-stick snack, it's fine.
How does it compare to Greek yogurt or cottage cheese for protein?
By density, string cheese wins: 25 g protein per 100 g versus 10 g for Fage Total 0% and about 13 g for Good Culture cottage cheese. By per-serving grams, the dairy cups win, because their servings are far larger — a 180 g Fage cup delivers 18 g of protein to a 24 g stick's 6 g. The real trade is sodium: string cheese carries roughly 20x Fage's sodium per gram.
Is it keto-friendly?
Yes — 1 g carb, 0 g sugar, 3.5 g fat, 6 g protein per stick fits any ketogenic plan. Mozzarella also runs leaner than cheddar or gouda, so the protein-to-fat ratio is unusually favorable for a cheese, making it a cleaner keto snack than most.
Are the enzymes vegetarian?
Yes. The label specifies '(non-animal)' enzymes — microbial rennet, typically fungal-derived rather than the calf-stomach rennet used in some traditional cheeses. That makes these sticks suitable for most vegetarians.