Cheese (Brie)
Dairy · Cheese
Soft does not mean high in lactose, and brie is the proof: two wedges, 40 g, record 0.08 g and rate green. People sort the cheese counter by texture and expect anything spreadable to behave like a tub of cream cheese. The white rind on brie is a living mould, and it ripens the cheese from the outside in, working through milk sugar as it goes.
Last updated 4 September 2026Serving sizes for cheese (brie)
Two wedges (40 g) is the tested serve, rated green.
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 wedges | 40 g | Lactose 0.08 g |
Breakdown for 2 wedges
Is cheese (brie) low FODMAP?
The rind is the mechanism. Brie is surface-ripened, meaning a white mould is grown on the outside and its enzymes work inwards over several weeks, softening the paste and consuming lactose on the way, so a runny centre is a sign of ripening rather than of retained whey. The tested wedges land at 0.08 g, under a sixth of the 0.5 g line at which lactose begins to register against a portion. Cream cheese, soft for the opposite reason and never ripened at all, reads 0.3 g in two tablespoons.
Cheese (Brie) and IBS: what to know
Brie arrives on a board, and a board is a minefield with the cheese as the innocent party. Quince paste, chutney, dried fruit, honey, wheat crackers and a bowl of cashews are all within arm’s reach, and any of them will overtake two wedges long before milk sugar becomes the issue. Camembert is listed separately with its own tested serve, so look it up rather than treating the two as interchangeable. If soft cheese has caused you problems before, it is worth working out whether it was brie or something fresh and undrained such as ricotta.
Gut-friendly ways to eat cheese (brie)
Two wedges is a real cheeseboard serve, so spend your attention on what surrounds it: rice crackers rather than wheat ones, grapes kept inside their own serve, olives, and a spoonful of something that is not chutney. Warm it gently rather than baking it whole with garlic pushed into the top, which is how most recipes ruin an otherwise green ingredient. Brie also melts into a toastie or a sauce in a way hard cheese will not, and it carries enough flavour of its own to lift a dish that has had to go without onion.
Frequently asked questions
Is brie OK if I am lactose intolerant?
Usually, yes. Weeks of mould ripening leave 0.08 g of lactose across the tested two wedges, which is less than most people expect from a cheese this soft. Lactose intolerance depends on the dose you take in one sitting, so the amount on your plate is the variable, not whether brie belongs on the list at all.
Can I eat the rind of brie?
Yes, and it is the part doing the work. The white bloom is the mould that ripened the cheese and drew its lactose down, so eating it changes nothing about the FODMAP figures. Some people find the rind bitter in a very ripe wheel, which is a matter of taste rather than of tolerance.
How much brie can I eat in one sitting?
Two wedges, 40 g, is what the data covers, and it rates green. A whole small wheel eaten across an evening has not been measured, so that sits outside what anyone can tell you. In practice richness decides it before FODMAPs do, since brie is dense in fat and a large amount feels heavy regardless of what the lactose column says.
Is brie or camembert better for IBS?
Both are surface-ripened by the same kind of white mould, so they work in much the same way, but the guide gives camembert its own entry and its own tested serve rather than reading one across from the other. Check the figure that belongs to whichever one is in front of you, and treat the crackers and chutney beside it as the bigger question.
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