This table shows the most consumed dairy products in America.
Data are for the year 2010 and are taken from the USDA ERS Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System and the Agricultural Research Service National Agricultural Library.
The figures are adjusted to prevent double counting. Milk used to create foods in other categories like cheese, butter, etc. is not counted under the “fluid milk and cream” category. The “fluid milk and cream” category includes milk of all fat percentages, buttermilk, yogurt, cream, sour cream and eggnog. “Frozen dairy products” includes ice cream, sherbet and frozen yogurt.
The availability figure is measured in milk-equivalent pounds. This statistic measures the amount of fluid milk needed to create the total amount of food in that category. For example, the availability of cottage cheese is 2.33 milk-equivalent pounds. This means that it takes 2.33 pounds of liquid milk to create the quantity of cottage cheese available to each person in the United States. Milk-equivalent pounds are calculated based on the quantity of milkfat in each dairy product.
Calorie availability is calculated based on milk-equivalent pounds, using the calorie content of whole milk. This statistic may overestimate the calorie availability of certain products.
For more information on what these numbers mean, or to download these tables in a different format, please visit the most consumed foods page.
The most consumed dairy products in America
Food product | Availability (lb per capita) (milk-equivalent weight) | Availability (kcal per capita) (from milk-equivalent calories) |
|---|---|---|
| Fluid milk and cream | 203.65 | 137640 |
| Cheese | 33.21 | 22442 |
| Frozen dairy products | 21.17 | 14305 |
| Evaporate and condensed milk | 7.03 | 4754 |
| Butter | 4.87 | 3288 |
| Dried dairy products (excluding whey) | 3.72 | 2514 |
| Cottage cheese | 2.33 | 1571 |
| Dried whey | 1.29 | 871 |
