Danish Blue — known in Denmark as Danablu — is a semi-soft, blue-veined cow's milk cheese developed in Denmark in the early 20th century as a more accessible, milder alternative to traditional sheep's milk blue cheeses like Roquefort. With a notably creamy, spreadable texture and a sharp yet approachable tang, Danish Blue was specifically engineered to be easier and faster to produce than its French counterparts, using a shorter aging process and cow's milk rather than sheep's milk. This made it one of the more widely exported and internationally accessible blue cheeses through the 20th century, now holding its own Protected Geographical Indication status within the EU. Nutritionally, Danish Blue provides solid calcium, protein and B12 in a genuinely approachable format for those newer to blue cheese. Adjust the slider for your serving size.
🧮
Serving size calculator
Drag the slider — all values update instantly
Serving size:30g
103Calories (kcal)
0.3Carbs (g)
6.0Protein (g)
0.0Fibre (g)
Advertisement
AdSense In-Content 336×280
📊 Full nutrition facts — per 100g
Nutrient
Amount
% Daily value
Level
Calories
342 kcal
17%
Carbohydrates
1.0g
<1%
Protein
20.0g
40%
Total fat
28.0g
—
Saturated fat
18.0g
—
GI
0 — Zero
—
Calcium
528mg
53%
Vitamin B12
1.3µg
54%
Phosphorus
340mg
34%
Sodium
1400mg
—
Zinc
2.6mg
22%
Vitamin A
278µg
31%
Based on Australian NRV. Source: FSANZ Australian Food Composition Database.
📈 Glycaemic index (GI)
0
Glycaemic IndexLow GIDanish Blue has a GI of approximately 0 — effectively zero. As a fermented blue cheese with minimal carbohydrate content, it has no meaningful effect on blood glucose regardless of preparation or serving method.
0 · Low (<55)Medium (56–69)High (70+) · 100
💊 Key vitamins & minerals
Calcium
528mg/100g
53% RDI per 100g
Vitamin B12
1.3µg
54% RDI per 100g
Protein
20.0g/100g
6.0g per 30g serve
GI
0 — Zero
Negligible carbohydrate
Phosphorus
340mg
34% RDI per 100g
Sodium
1400mg
High — lower than Roquefort/Stilton
✅ Health benefits
🦴
Excellent calcium — 53% of daily needs per 100g
Danish Blue provides 528mg of calcium per 100g, a strong contribution from a small, flavour-forward serving — a 30g portion delivers approximately 158mg, close to 16% of the daily requirement.
🦠
Strong vitamin B12 — 54% of daily needs per 100g
Danish Blue delivers 1.3µg of B12 per 100g, supporting nerve function and red blood cell formation, comparable to or exceeding several other blue cheeses in this guide.
💪
Solid protein density with an approachable flavour profile
At 20.0g of protein per 100g, Danish Blue provides substantial complete protein — a 30g serve delivers 6g — in a genuinely milder, more approachable blue cheese format than some of its more intensely flavoured counterparts.
🩺
Zero glycaemic impact from its fermented production
With just 1.0g of carbohydrate per 100g, Danish Blue has an effective GI of zero, fitting comfortably into low-carbohydrate eating patterns without any meaningful blood glucose consequence.
Advertisement
AdSense 728×90
⚠️ Who should limit or avoid
🧂
High sodium — 1400mg per 100g
A 30g serve of Danish Blue provides approximately 420mg of sodium, close to a fifth of the daily recommended limit. While somewhat lower than Roquefort or Stilton, this remains meaningful for people specifically managing sodium intake.
🫀
Significant saturated fat — 18g per 100g
A 30g serve provides approximately 5.4g of saturated fat, over a quarter of the daily recommended limit. Danish Blue's milder, creamier character means it's sometimes spread more generously than sharper blue cheeses, worth keeping in mind for portion awareness.
🤰
Pregnancy — soft blue-veined cheeses carry a listeria risk
Danish Blue's semi-soft texture and mould-ripening process mean it falls into the same category of soft/semi-soft cheeses specifically flagged as unsafe during pregnancy under Australian dietary guidelines, even when made from pasteurised milk. Avoid unless thoroughly cooked until steaming hot — always check current health advice.
✅ For most healthy adults (outside pregnancy), Danish Blue's approachable, creamy character alongside strong calcium and B12 content makes it a good entry point into blue cheese, whether eaten in typical cheese-board portions or crumbled into salads and sauces. Its sodium and saturated fat content warrant the same general moderation as other blue cheeses.
⚕️ General nutritional information only — not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice.
🛒 How to select & buy danish blue
1
Danish Blue vs sharper blue cheeses — a genuinely milder entry point
Danish Blue was specifically developed to be milder, creamier and more approachable than traditional sheep's milk blue cheeses like Roquefort, making it a good starting point for people newer to blue cheese, or for dishes where a more moderate blue cheese presence is wanted rather than an intensely dominant flavour.
2
Reading PGI status and quality signs
Genuine Danish Blue (Danablu) holds EU Protected Geographical Indication status, requiring production according to specific traditional Danish methods. Look for creamy, evenly distributed blue veining throughout a pale ivory paste, a smooth, spreadable texture, and a tangy but not overwhelming aroma — Danish Blue should feel notably softer and creamier to the touch than firmer blue cheeses like aged Stilton.
3
Best uses — where its approachable character shines
Danish Blue's creamy, spreadable texture makes it excellent crumbled or spread directly onto crackers and bread, blended into dips and dressings, or melted into sauces where its milder character integrates smoothly without overwhelming other flavours — a versatile everyday blue cheese option for cooking as well as direct eating.
🇦🇺 Australian tip: Danish Blue is widely available at Australian supermarkets and delicatessens, generally more affordable and accessible than Roquefort or genuine Stilton, typically priced $6-10 per 150-200g. As one of the more commercially accessible blue cheese styles globally, Danish Blue is often the entry-point blue cheese stocked in general supermarket cheese sections across Australia, making it a practical, reliable choice for everyday blue cheese use in cooking and casual entertaining, alongside more specialty imported options for those seeking Roquefort's or Stilton's more intense specific character.
🧊 Storage tips & shelf life
Refrigerator
3-4 weeks (wrapped properly)
Wrap in foil or wax paper, keep away from other foods
Wrap Danish Blue in foil or wax paper rather than plastic wrap, storing in the least cold part of the fridge, away from other foods given its notable aroma. Its creamier texture means it can be slightly more prone to drying out at cut edges than firmer cheeses, so ensure the cut surface is well covered.
🧊
Freezer
Up to 6 months (texture becomes more crumbly)
Best suited to cooking applications after thawing
Danish Blue can be frozen, though its already creamy texture becomes noticeably more crumbly and less spreadable after thawing — better suited to melting into sauces or crumbling into cooked dishes than fresh spreading after freezing.
Danish Blue was developed in Denmark in the early 20th century, specifically created as a more accessible, faster-to-produce alternative to traditional sheep's milk blue cheeses like Roquefort, which required specific cave-aging conditions and sheep's milk that limited production scale and geographic flexibility. By using cow's milk (more abundant and easier to source at scale in Denmark's strong dairy farming industry) and a shorter overall aging process, Danish cheesemakers created a genuinely new blue cheese style that could be produced more efficiently and at greater volume, while still delivering the characteristic tangy, blue-veined flavour profile that consumers associated with premium European blue cheese. This deliberate engineering for accessibility and efficient production, rather than adherence to a centuries-old traditional method tied to one specific location, distinguishes Danish Blue's development story from older blue cheeses like Roquefort or Stilton, representing a more modern, industrially-minded approach to creating a new cheese style within an existing beloved category.
Danish Blue's efficient production model and milder, more universally approachable flavour profile helped it become one of the more successfully and widely exported blue cheeses globally through the 20th century, reaching international markets, including Australia, more readily and affordably than the more geographically restricted and intensely flavoured Roquefort or Stilton. This established Danish Blue as a genuine entry-point blue cheese for many consumers internationally, including in Australia, where it remains one of the more commonly stocked blue cheese options in general supermarket cheese sections, providing accessible everyday blue cheese flavour for cooking and casual entertaining, while more specialty-focused Australian delicatessens and cheese shops continue to offer the more intensely traditional and specifically protected Roquefort and Stilton alongside it for consumers seeking those particular specific styles and their associated culinary heritage.
Danish Blue was deliberately engineered in the early 20th century as a faster, more accessible alternative to traditional sheep's milk blue cheeses
Unlike Roquefort or Stilton, which developed gradually over centuries tied to specific traditional production locations and methods, Danish Blue was more deliberately and relatively quickly developed by Danish cheesemakers in the early 20th century, specifically designed to use more abundant cow's milk and a shorter aging process to create a blue cheese that could be produced more efficiently and at greater scale than its traditional counterparts, while still delivering a recognisably similar tangy, blue-veined flavour experience — representing a genuinely more modern, deliberately engineered approach to creating a new entry within an existing beloved cheese category.
🐄
2
Unlike Roquefort's strict sheep's milk requirement, Danish Blue uses cow's milk — a deliberate choice that shaped its milder, creamier character
Danish Blue's use of cow's milk rather than sheep's milk represents a deliberate departure from Roquefort's specific production requirements, taking advantage of Denmark's strong existing cow dairy farming industry rather than requiring the more specialised sheep dairy farming that sheep's milk blue cheeses depend on. This choice, combined with Danish Blue's shorter aging process, directly contributes to its characteristically milder, creamier texture and more approachable flavour intensity compared to traditional sheep's milk blue cheeses, making it a genuinely different eating experience despite sharing the same basic blue-veined cheese category.
🌍
3
Danish Blue's efficient, scalable production model made it one of the most successfully and widely internationally exported blue cheeses of the 20th century
Because Danish Blue could be produced more efficiently and at greater scale than geographically restricted traditional blue cheeses like Roquefort or Stilton, it became one of the more successfully and widely exported blue cheese styles internationally through the 20th century, reaching markets across Europe, North America, and Australia more readily and affordably, establishing itself as a genuine entry-point blue cheese for many international consumers who might otherwise never have easily accessed a good-quality traditional European blue cheese.
⚖️
4
Danish Blue (Danablu) holds its own EU Protected Geographical Indication status, distinct from and separate to Roquefort's protection
Despite being a comparatively more modern, deliberately engineered cheese style compared to centuries-old traditional blue cheeses, Danish Blue (known as Danablu under its official protection) has still achieved its own EU Protected Geographical Indication status, requiring production according to specific traditional Danish methods — demonstrating that geographic food protections can apply to relatively newer, deliberately developed cheese styles, not only to the oldest traditional cheeses with many centuries of continuous documented production history.
🇦🇺
5
Danish Blue's accessibility and milder flavour have made it the entry-point blue cheese most commonly stocked in general Australian supermarket cheese sections
Reflecting its historical development specifically for efficient, accessible production and export, Danish Blue remains one of the most commonly available blue cheese options in general Australian supermarket cheese sections, functioning as a practical, everyday entry point to blue cheese for Australian consumers, while more specialty-focused delicatessens and dedicated cheese shops continue to offer the more intensely traditional and specifically protected Roquefort and Stilton for those specifically seeking those particular styles and their distinct culinary heritage and character.