Some types of cheese have more CLA than others

The way that cheese is made influences its CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) content. In general, the longer cheese is aged, the lower the CLA. Thus, hard cheeses such as Parmesan and Romano tend to have less CLA than softer cheeses such as cream cheese, cottage cheese, feta, farmer's cheese, ricotta, and Brie. In addition, cheese that is aged through "bacterial surface ripening" (Brick and Muenster) has more CLA than cheese that does not go through this process. Finally, a serving of high-fat cheese will have more CLA than a similar serving of low-fat cheese. (The CLA is measured in terms of grams of CLA per gram of total fat; the more total grams of fat in a serving of cheese, the more CLA it will have Reduced fat swiss is an anomaly, for unknown reasons..)

The table below shows CLA levels in cheese purchased at a grocery store in 1992. In all likelihood, the milk came from confinement dairy operations. If the milk had come from grassfed animals, the CLA content would have been five times higher.

Chin et al, "Dietary Sources of Conjugated Dienic Isomers of Linoleic Acid, a Newly Recognized Class of Anticarcinogens." J. of Food Composition and Analysis 5:185-197 1992

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