The carbon footprint of blue cheese, from cow's milk
Blue cheese, from cow's milk emits about 0.75 kg CO₂e per 1 kg of prepared product. Below is where that figure actually comes from — every stage of the chain, not a single headline number.
- Packaging
- 0.267 kg
- 36%
- Producing the packaging it reaches you in.
- Transport
- 0.258 kg
- 34%
- Moving it from farm to processor to shop.
- Processing
- 0.225 kg
- 30%
- Turning the raw product into food: milling, refining, slaughter, curing.
Lower-carbon alternatives
Each emits less than half as much as blue cheese, from cow's milk.
Fresh broccoli (field production)
0.372
kg CO₂e
50% lower
Fruit soft drink, carbonated (less than 10% of fruit juice), without sugar and artificial sweetener(s)
0.364
kg CO₂e
51% lower
Fruit soft drink, carbonated (less than 10% of fruit juice), without sugar and with artificial sweetener(s)
0.364
kg CO₂e
51% lower
Bananas, LDPE Bag
0.362
kg CO₂e
52% lower
Similar products
Common questions
- How much CO2 does blue cheese, from cow's milk produce?
- About 0.75 kg CO₂e per 1 kg of prepared product, measured across the supply chain. That is roughly the same as driving 4 km in an average petrol car.
- What drives the footprint of blue cheese, from cow's milk?
- Packaging is the largest contributor at 0.267 kg CO₂e, about 36% of the total. Transport is only 0.258 kg — which is why what you eat matters far more than how far it travelled.
- Where does this data come from?
- The WRAP UK Food & Drink Emission Factor Database v2.0, which aggregates peer-reviewed life-cycle assessments. This product's figures come from Agribalyse (ADEME).
Figures from the WRAP UK Food & Drink Emission Factor Database v2.0, which aggregates published life-cycle assessments; this product's data originates from Agribalyse (ADEME), for France. Real values vary by farm, region and method — treat these as the shape of the problem, not a measurement of any one item on your shelf.
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