Cheese (Swiss/Emmental)
Dairy · Cheese
Two slices of swiss, 40 g, carry 0.02 g of lactose and rate green, which puts a proper filling inside a sandwich rather than a scattering over the top of one. It is also the cheese that melts most obligingly, and neither the holes nor the sweet, nutty flavour that arrives with them makes any difference to the figure.
Last updated 4 September 2026Serving sizes for cheese (swiss/emmental)
Two slices, 40 g, is what has been tested here, and it rates green.
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 slices | 40 g | Lactose 0.02 g |
Breakdown for 2 slices
Is cheese (swiss/emmental) low FODMAP?
Lactose is the only FODMAP dairy contributes, and swiss records 0.02 g of it across the tested slices, a twenty-fifth of the 0.5 g mark at which the group begins to register. Nothing else appears in the column: no fructans, no GOS, no sorbitol, no mannitol. Cheddar sets out how a firm cheese arrives at a figure that small. Worth adding here is that the warm ripening stage which gives swiss its eyes happens after the milk sugar has already been dealt with, so a hole-riddled block is no different from a solid one.
Cheese (Swiss/Emmental) and IBS: what to know
Swiss rarely turns up on its own. It arrives inside something, and the rest of that something is usually where the trouble sits: rye bread is rated amber, deli dressings are commonly started from onion, and a relish can be sweetened with almost anything. Rebuild the same filling on a bread that suits you and the cheese stops being the question at all. Worth tracking too is the rest of the day’s dairy, because a cheese sandwich at lunch, a milky coffee and a tub of yoghurt after dinner all draw on the same tolerance.
Gut-friendly ways to eat cheese (swiss/emmental)
Swiss melts smoothly and browns without splitting or going oily, so it does the real work in a toastie, a croque monsieur, an omelette or over a burger patty, and two slices is roughly what each of those asks for. Fondue is the one to think about in advance, since the pot is traditionally rubbed with a cut clove of garlic before any cheese goes in and the thing you dip is a baguette. Grated over roasted potato or folded through eggs, the nuttiness gives a dish somewhere to go without a stock cube.
Frequently asked questions
Is swiss cheese the same as emmental?
Close enough for this figure. What a deli or supermarket sells as swiss is usually emmental or a copy made in that style, with the same eyes and the same mild nuttiness, and that is the cheese our 40 g serve describes. Gruyère comes from the same country but is pressed without holes and matured differently, so treat it as its own cheese rather than assuming the number carries across.
Can I eat swiss cheese if I am lactose intolerant?
Most people manage it without noticing. Two slices carry 0.02 g of lactose, nearer a rounding error than a serve of dairy, which is why firm cheese so often stays on the list after a glass of milk has come off it. How much you handle at once still depends on how much lactase your own gut makes, so the thickness of the slice is the variable to watch.
Is a ham and swiss toastie low FODMAP?
The cheese and the ham are the easy part. Two slices of swiss rates green, so the decision rests on the bread and on whatever is spread underneath. Dijon mustard is rated green and works well here; the jars to turn over are the honey mustards and the caramelised onion relishes, both of which bring a FODMAP that the cheese does not.
Why does swiss cheese have holes?
A third culture, propionic bacteria, is added alongside the usual starters and gives off carbon dioxide as it works. The gas collects in pockets while the young cheese is still warm and elastic enough to stretch around them, and those pockets are the eyes. The same bacteria produce the sweet, nutty taste, so flavour and holes come as a pair and neither says anything about milk sugar.
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