Kraft Foods, a leading inorganic cheese producer in North America, told us that its Parmesan and Romano cheese blend is made of microbial rennet, but animal lipases are also used to give Romano cheese a unique flavor. Since cheeses like Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, Manchengo, Gruyere, Gorgonzola use it, they are not technically vegetarian. Cornish Yage wrapped in nettle usually uses vegetarian rennet, although their cheese for the US export market may contain animal rennet.
Cheddar cheese has rennet. Rennet is an enzyme used for curdling proteins in milk, and most cheeses have it. The cheeses that lack rennet are often liquids, and the most iconic of these is cottage cheese. Cheeses made without rennet often use acids, such as vinegar, as a replacement.
Many traditional European cheeses use animal rennet to curd milk during the cheese making process. Many cheeses contain animal rennet, which helps the milk separate into curd and whey. Soft dairy products containing whey (such as paneer, ricotta, yogurt, and cream cheese) are practically rennet free due to their traditional processing. Strict vegetarians are looking for labeled cheeses without animal rennet, which is used in dairy and non-dairy cheeses.
Rennet as an Important Enzyme
The enzyme or plant rennet does not contain animal products; therefore it is considered a vegetarian cheese enzyme. Most hard cheeses such as Parmesan, Cheddar, Pecorino Romano and others are derived from rennet. However, some cheeses contain animal rennet, which contains enzymes usually sourced from the stomach lining of animals. They produce certified organic handcrafted cheese using microbial rennet that produces a non-animal enzyme.
Like many other types of cheese, real mozzarella uses animal rennet, a substance obtained from the stomach lining of young animals that have not been weaned. The taste of genetically modified rennet is as close as possible to real cheese made with animal enzymes.
The rennet used in cheese has only one purpose: to coagulate milk and coagulate milk proteins to form cheese. However, many types of cheeses such as cream cheese, ricotta, Swiss cheese, provolone and other cheeses do not require rennet.
Cheese Does Not Need Rennet
We’re here to tell you that you can eat cheese without rennet, a component of animal fat. Manufacturers using animal rennet claim that it is more stable and produces a more stable cheese than laboratory rennet. A good cheese shop will also mark this on signs next to the cheese.
In addition, some traditional Spanish and Portuguese goat cheeses, including La Serena and Zimbro, use vegetarian rennet from thistle, which has a distinctly salty taste. Laboratory-produced rennet is cheaper than animal rennet, which reduces the cost of producing these cheeses and makes them cheaper for consumers. Trader Joes and Whole Foods both label the source of the rennet used in their generic cheeses, many of which are vegetarian.
Many cheeses, especially European cheeses, contain an enzyme called rennet (RIHN-niht), which helps the cheese coagulate.
Therefore, when you want to buy real cheese without rennet, the safest option is vegetarian cheese. If you want to avoid rennet at all costs, you will most likely have to avoid using cheese where the ingredient list is not available (say goodbye to a spoonful of Parmesan from a local Italian store).
Where Rennet Comes From
This enzyme is usually obtained from the stomachs of calves slaughtered for veal, which is why most vegetarians consider it illegal. Conversely, rennet-free mozzarella has a mild flavor and soft texture, perfect for making sandwiches or pizza. Although rennet is popular in the cheese industry, some cheeses do not require rennet use.
The addition of various clotting factors will cause the cheese without rennet to coagulate. Then you can use a variety of non-animal cheeses. Because the Jewish religion stipulates that milk and meat products cannot be eaten together, kosher cheese does not contain animal products.
