Milk fat is considered hypercholesterolemic because it contains cholesterol and a large proportion of saturated fatty acids. The use of vegetable oil to substitute for milk fat in cheesemaking has been proposed to improve the nutritional value of the cheese. However, the quality of vegetable-oil cheese has not been as good as that of traditional cheese. The objectives of this study were to modify vegetable oils to resemble milk fat for use in cheese production and to produce high quality, nutritious Swiss cheese from modified vegetable oils and skim milk;High-oleic sunflower oil (HOSO) was chemically modified by incorporating shortchain fatty acids (C4--C10) (SCFA) through interesterification of short-chain triglycerides and HOSO. A simplified gas chromatography method based on decyl esters was used to determine the fatty acid compositions of milk fat and modified vegetable oils. All modified vegetable oils had a short-chain fatty acid composition closely resembling that of milk fat. Seven types of Swiss cheese were made by recombining skim milk with various fat sources, namely, HOSO; milk fat; randomized milk fat; HOSO with commercial shortchain fatty acids interesterified at 100% and 120% of the levels in the milk fat; HOSO with SCFA from milk fat interesterified, and HOSO with free fatty acids (C4--C10) dissolved. The quality of Swiss cheese was evaluated after three months of ripening by sensory, chemical, and physical methods. All cheeses made from modified HOSO had significantly higher scores in typical Swiss flavor and volatiles than did unmodified HOSO and were not significantly different from milk fat control cheeses. Simple correlation of sensory flavor and chemical parameters indicated that Swiss flavor was correlated positively with sweetness, volatiles, caramelized flavor, non-fat solids, and C4--C10 fatty acids and negatively with fat and salt content. A linear regression model (R2 = 0.91) was established for Swiss flavor that included fat, salt, titritable acidity, and C12--16 fatty acids as variables;Instrumental texture profile analysis indicated no differences among the treatments in texture attributes except for cohesiveness; however, sensory panelists detected differences among the treatments in hardness and springiness. The commercial feasibility of production of Swiss cheese from modified HOSO is also discussed.