What's the Difference Between Wish-Bone and Newman's Own? Cheese

Wish-Bone Italian and Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian are both oil and vinegar Italian dressings, but their labels differ on the first ingredient, cheese, allergen statements, and nutrition per serving. Per 2 tablespoons, the Wish-Bone listing shows 80 calories, 7 g total fat, 320 mg sodium (14% DV), and 4 g added sugars (8% DV). The Newman's Own Hannaford listing shows 120 calories, 13 g total fat, 310 mg sodium (13% DV), and added sugar at 1% DV. The sections below present these facts side by side so you can weigh them against your own needs.

Key takeaways

• Wish-Bone Italian (15 fl oz, UPC 00041321006265) lists water first and soybean oil third. Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian (16 oz, Hannaford listing) lists canola oil first and water second.
• The Hannaford Newman's Own listing includes Romano cheese and declares milk and soy. The Wish-Bone ingredient list shows soybean oil but no separate Contains statement.
• Per 2 tablespoons, Wish-Bone shows 80 calories, 7 g fat, 320 mg sodium, and 4 g added sugars. Newman's Own shows 120 calories, 13 g fat, 310 mg sodium, and added sugar at 1% DV.
• Ingredient lists and nutrition figures vary by retailer and label version, and the Newman's Own brand page lists a different ingredient set with no nutrition panel. Check the package in hand.

How do Wish-Bone Italian and Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian compare at a glance?

The two dressings differ most on the first listed ingredient, whether cheese appears in the ingredient list, and calories and fat per serving. Sodium per serving is close, and added sugar is reported in different formats.

Factor	Wish-Bone Italian (15 fl oz, UPC 00041321006265)	Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian (16 oz, Hannaford listing)
First ingredient	Water	Canola oil
Cheese in ingredient list	Not listed	Romano cheese (pasteurized cow's milk)
Allergen statement on retailer listing	No Contains statement on the listing	Contains: milk, soy
Serving size	2 tbsp (33 g)	2 TBSP (weight not disclosed)
Servings per container	15	16
Calories	80	120
Total fat	7 g (9% DV)	13 g (16% DV)
Saturated fat	1 g	1.5 g (6% DV)
Sodium	320 mg (14% DV)	310 mg (13% DV)
Total carbohydrate	5 g	1 g
Added sugars	4 g (8% DV)	1% DV (grams not disclosed)
Protein	0 g	0 g
Other claims	Kosher (Food Lion listing)	No artificial flavors or preservatives; no high fructose corn syrup

The table reflects current retailer listings and the Newman's Own brand page. Your bottle may differ, so the Nutrition Facts panel on the package is the reference point for any purchase.

Which ingredient comes first on each label: water or canola oil?

Wish-Bone Italian lists water first, and Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian lists canola oil first, with water second. Ingredients are generally printed in descending order by weight, so the first item is typically the largest by weight in that product.

In the Wish-Bone listing, the sequence is water, distilled vinegar, soybean oil, then sugar and salt. In the Hannaford Newman's Own listing, canola oil leads, followed by water, distilled vinegar, Romano cheese, and extra virgin olive oil. The listing does not disclose what percentage of the dressing is oil, or how much of the oil is olive oil, so the order alone does not show the full fat picture.

Does Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian contain Romano cheese and milk allergens?

Yes. The Hannaford ingredient listing for Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian includes Romano Cheese, described as made with pasteurized cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, and enzymes, and the listing carries a Contains statement for milk and soy. The Wish-Bone ingredient list does not include cheese.

For people managing a milk allergy, the practical point is that milk appears both as a named ingredient and in the allergen statement on the Hannaford listing. The FDA identifies milk as one of the nine major food allergens that U.S. law requires food labels to declare.

Reactions vary from person to person, and a label cannot tell you how an individual will respond. The Newman's Own brand page lists a slightly different ingredient set, including anchovy paste, and the version currently on shelves was not disclosed. Because two listings disagree, the package itself is the most reliable place to confirm what is in the bottle.

Do the two dressings list soy, and how do the nine major allergens apply to each label?

The Hannaford Newman's Own listing declares soy and includes hydrolyzed soy protein among its ingredients. The Wish-Bone listing includes soybean oil, but it does not show a separate Contains statement, so the package is the place to confirm how soy is declared.

The FDA lists nine major food allergens identified by law in the United States: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Both soy and milk fall on that list. Neither retailer listing for Wish-Bone includes a milk ingredient. Barley malt powder appears in the Newman's Own ingredient list, but barley is not on the FDA's list of nine, and no gluten-free claim was seen for either product, so gluten status is not disclosed here.

The brand page version of the Newman's Own label also lists anchovy paste, which is a fish ingredient. If you avoid fish, check the bottle's ingredient list and Contains statement for anchovy before buying.

How much sodium is in each dressing, and how does it compare with the FDA Daily Value?

Per 2 tablespoons, Wish-Bone Italian lists 320 mg sodium (14% DV), and Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian lists 310 mg sodium (13% DV). The FDA sets the Daily Value for sodium at less than 2,300 mg per day, and it considers 5% DV or less per serving low and 20% DV or more high. Both listings fall between those two markers.

The per-serving figures are what the labels report, and the serving sizes differ slightly in how they were listed. The Wish-Bone serving is 33 g, while the Newman's Own serving weight was not disclosed in the listing.

How much added sugar is in Wish-Bone Italian vs Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian?

Wish-Bone Italian lists 4 g added sugars (8% DV) per 2 tablespoons on a Price Rite listing, and the Food Lion listing for the same 15 oz bottle shows the same 4 g. Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian lists added sugar at 1% DV on the Hannaford listing, and its gram amount was not disclosed.

The Wish-Bone listing also shows 4 g total sugars and 5 g total carbohydrate per serving. The Newman's Own listing shows 1 g total carbohydrate, but its total sugar grams were not disclosed. Sugar appears as an ingredient in both lists, placed fourth in the Wish-Bone list and after sea salt in the Newman's Own list. The Newman's Own Worcestershire sauce and barley malt powder also contain molasses or corn syrup, but the listing does not state a combined sugar total.

Added sugar figures can look similar on different products while other label details differ. For a related side-by-side on how two products can share the same added sugar line, see this Oatly vs Silk comparison.

How many calories and grams of fat are in a 2-tablespoon serving of each dressing?

Per 2 tablespoons, Wish-Bone Italian lists 80 calories and 7 g total fat (9% DV), while Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian lists 120 calories and 13 g total fat (16% DV). Saturated fat is 1 g for Wish-Bone and 1.5 g (6% DV) for Newman's Own. Both list 0 g protein.

The Newman's Own serving weight was not disclosed, so gram-for-gram comparisons are not possible from the listing. The listing does not disclose oil percentages, so it is not possible to say how much of the fat comes from canola oil, soybean oil, or olive oil.

When reading any Italian dressing label, these checkpoints help:

• Confirm the serving size in tablespoons and grams.
• Note the servings per container, since the container total depends on the serving used.
• Compare the calories and total fat on the same serving basis.
• Look for the saturated fat line and its Daily Value.
• Check the sodium and added sugars lines and their percent Daily Values.

Why do ingredient lists differ between label versions, retailers, and the brand website?

Ingredient lists differ because the same product name can appear in different records, and a label can change over time. An older Open Food Facts record for Wish-Bone Italian (barcode 0041000006104, serving 2 Tbsp or 30 ml) lists calcium disodium EDTA, used to protect quality, along with caramel color and autolyzed yeast extract, with soybean oil second. That record reflects an earlier label version. The current retailer list does not include EDTA. The date Wish-Bone removed it was not disclosed.

For Newman's Own, the Hannaford ingredient list and the Newman's Own brand page differ. The brand page includes anchovy paste (anchovy, salt, water) and a Worcestershire sauce with tamarind rather than celery seed, with sugar listed under less than 2%. The brand page shows no nutrition panel. Which version is on shelves today was not disclosed.

Wish-Bone's website does not show a nutrition panel for this dressing, so the Wish-Bone figures here come from retailer listings. Retailers may also carry different package sizes, so match the UPC or bottle size to the listing you are reading.

How can shoppers check a current label before buying either Italian dressing?

Read the label on the bottle in hand, because retailer pages and older database entries may not match the current packaging. Start with the product name, size, and barcode, then move to the ingredient order, the allergen statement, and the Nutrition Facts panel.

• Match the UPC or barcode and bottle size, such as 15 fl oz for Wish-Bone or 16 oz for Newman's Own.
• Read the ingredient list for cheese, milk, soy, and any oil listed first.
• Look for a Contains statement and read it alongside the ingredient list.
• Check serving size, servings per container, and the sodium and added sugars lines.
• Compare the Nutrition Facts panel with the figures in this article, and note any differences.