Got Good-Tasting (and Lower-Fat) Dairy Products?

1. Healthy Eating Slideshow: Fat-Fighting Foods
2. Food Frauds Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Diet & Nutrition Quiz

WebMD's 'Recipe Doctor' goes taste-testing in the dairy aisle

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Expert Column

Wouldn't you like to know which fat-free and reduced fat-dairy products taste great and are worth buying and trying? Ultimately, it's up to the discretion of your taste buds, of course, but we can certainly nudge you in the better-tasting direction.

Here are our findings:

Great-tasting reduced-fat cheeses

Cheeses with only a little fat taken out -- like Cracker Barrel Light Sharp Cheddar, with 6 grams of fat per ounce -- are more likely to look and taste like regular cheese.

I've been using these reduced-fat cheeses for years and have found they work great in every cheese situation I find myself in (in recipes, on crackers, for grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.).

I've also found that fat-free cheeses just don't compare to regular cheese, because they have zero fat per ounce compared to about 9 grams per ounce for regular cheese.