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Edam

Mild semi-hard Dutch cow-milk cheese traditionally sold in a wax rind.

Edam — illustrative ingredient image

About Edam

Edam is a mild, semi-hard cow’s-milk cheese traditionally enclosed in a coloured wax rind. It is eaten as a table cheese and is also sliced for sandwiches, grated over dishes, melted, or added to savoury cooking. Its rind is removed before ordinary eating.

Young Edam is supple and mild, while aging generally makes the cheese firmer, drier, and more pronounced in flavour. The interior is typically pale yellow to ivory with a smooth, sliceable body. It melts readily, though its exact melting behaviour varies with age and formulation.

The traditional cheese is rounded and wax-coated, but shops may sell it as a whole cheese, wedge, block, or pre-sliced product. Cutting exposes the firm interior; grating makes it suitable for toppings, and heating softens it for sauces, sandwiches, baked dishes, and other melted preparations.

Ingredient type
derived ingredient

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Where edam appears

0 linked foods

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Food connections are still being added.

No linked foods are available for this ingredient yet.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for edam

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

Edam

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Edam nutrition & diet

Edam nutritional value

Cheese, edam

Per 100 g of the edible portion in the stated food form.

Calories
358.5kcal
Protein
27.4g
Carbs
0.0g
Fat
27.2g

Reference values apply to the named food form, not every preparation, variety or brand. © Food Standards Australia New Zealand. AFCD Release 3, food F002448. Available carbohydrate excludes sugar alcohols; energy converted from kJ to kcal (÷4.184). Australian data may not be appropriate for use in other countries. There are limitations associated with food composition databases. Food composition data used in the database or databases may represent an average of the nutrient content of a particular sample of foods and ingredients, determined at a particular time. The nutrient composition of foods and ingredients can vary substantially between batches and brands because of a number of factors, including changes in season, processing practices and ingredient source, and methods of calculation. Data licensed under the FSANZ Data User Licence Agreement, based on CC BY-SA 3.0 AU: https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science-data/monitoringnutrients/afcd/datauserlicenceagreement.

Portions & preparation

Match the reference to Edam cheese itself and specify whether the wax rind is removed, along with age, fat formulation, and sliced, cubed, or grated form. Preparation with bread, sauces, or melting mixtures changes the edible serving. Avoid treating an Edam-style product as traditional Edam without confirmation.

Compare the right form: Reference Edam made from cow’s milk with rind removed, specifying age, formulation, and plain sliced, cubed, grated, or melted form.

Diet considerations

Edam is animal-derived cow-milk cheese. Compatibility changes with the wax coating, flavorings, smoking, processed cheese formulations, breading, cereal-containing sandwiches, or sauces. Plain cheese differs from a prepared dish or cheese product, and recipe-specific dairy or animal additions should be identified. Portion size matters when paired with breads, crackers, or other carbohydrates.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Not established
  • Vegetarian
    Not established
  • Pescatarian
    Not established
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Not established
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Vegetarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Pescatarian · Not established
The available profile does not establish the full composition or processing for this dietary pattern.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Not established
The ingredient form and processing have not been assessed against this dietary pattern.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: Australian Food Composition Database, Release 3, 2025 — Cheese, edam ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .