is it true that all cheese, excluding veg, is made from rennet which can only be obtained by killing calves?

Question

if this is true i find it hard to believe why a) this isn't more widely known b) why efforts aren't made to find similar ingredients / processes to produce cheese without causing such harm to calves

Answer 1

OMG..... YES it's true - well, most *processed* cheese have rennet in them (just read the ingred's), but soft cheeses like cream or cottage don't. Some of those might use fish enzymes however so you need to be careful. Reading the answers here just confirms your statement about it not being widely known - I've been a vegetarian since I was 11-12 but only found that out when I was about 18. I really don't know why they don't try to find a non-meat substitute b/c they would have millions more customers as people who keep Kosher can't eat any cheese with rennet either. It's also frustrating getting vegetarian cookbooks that have cheese listed in almost every recipe. Try to stick to vegetarian cheese or Kosher cheese, but again Kosher could still have fish enzymes so you need to do research. Also, don't trust crackers or other cheese flavoured products, b/c sometimes they don't list it. At least they make pretty good soy cheese now. Oh, and to the person who made references to Biblical times - processed cheese producers use rennet b/c it's a quick way of getting the cheese to ferment/age. If you make cheese the old fashioned way (which takes a long time) you don't need it. So, some gourmet cheeses might be safe - again, you'd have to do research. There might be some info on the net about certain brands..... here, I just found a list:

http://cheese.joyousliving.com/CheeseListBrand.aspx

But still do your research! These are only cheeses without rennet, and you can't trust them 100%.

Answer 2

It is very true. Here are some websites explaining about what rennet is and why most cheeses are made using rennet:

http://www.wholefoods.com/healthinfo/rennet.html
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/cheese.html
http://www.vegparadise.com/news32.html

In reference to your curiosities:
a.) It is widely known with vegetarians, vegans, or people who research what is inside of foods. It is not widely known to the whole population because if you look at a package of cheese, you will see the word "enzymes;" the word "enzymes," in most cheeses, represents the animal rennet that is used. The cheese companies do not come right out and say "animal rennet," or "calve's stomach lining." Some cheeses do, however, say "rennet" or "rennin." Kraft's Velveeta cheese is one that says "rennet" on the box. Even so, many people do not realize what rennet is or what it is made from.
b.) Efforts have been made to find alternatives to rennet. This is how vegetarian/vegan cheeses are made. It is called vegetable rennet or microbial rennet. More information on both vegetable and microbial rennet is included on the last link that I gave you.

I thought I would also add that not ALL cheeses contain animal rennet, even the ones that you wouldn't expect to be vegetarian. I have found out that Cabot cheeses do not contain animal rennet, and if you see the package of Cabot cheeses, they will say something similar to "contains no animal rennet." There are other cheeses as well, and here is a website that lists them: http://cheese.joyousliving.com . This is assuming that one is a vegetarian and not a vegan because, obviously, cheese still contains milk (outside of vegan cheeses).

Answer 3

Basically yes, for most hard cheeses. . . many soft cheeses do not use rennet.

The veggie 'rennet' that has been developed is, according to a cheese-maker friend of mine, actually better than the 'traditional' stomach-lining-of-a-calf rennet. It is cleaner, easier to use, makes better cheese and is slightly cheaper. Without even touching on the whole 'moral/ethics' thing at all!

Which is the main reason why soooo many cheeses in your average supermarket these days carry the 'suitable for vegetarians' mark. Simple economics.

But still do check that the cheeses say 'suitable for...' or have a prominent 'V' on the label.

Answer 4

Yip- rennet is pretty disgusting, it's made from the stomach lining of animals.. not only calves as far as I know. I am guessing animals don't get primarily killed for the rennet, but for meat and this is just an easy, cheaper way to produce the rennet as the stomach linings are readily available after the poor calves have been slaughtered.Why we aren't told this: simple, same reason why beef steaks people buy don't have the labelling: "An animal has been brutally killed for your dinner tonight!!"

Answer 5

Many hard cheeses are made using rennet, which is obtained from calves' stomachs.
Further, efforts have been made and vegetarian rennet has been made available. You can buy it in many supermarkets. Non-veggie cheese is only still available because the public is still buying it. If more people made an effort to eat vegetarian, food producers, wholesalers and retailers would provide the food for us to do so.

Answer 6

It is true, yes. Vegetarian cheese uses other products instead.

I don't know why many people are answering "no".

Why do they use it ? becuase its cheap. The whole cost model around meat production requires all the aminal be used to bring down the overall cost.

Thats why some veggies prefer to even keep away from milk derived products - because it contributes to the system of keeping animals for slaughter ( although tis aurgument is slightly flawed because milk normally comes from Jerseys which are not used for meat ). Hoever, drinking milk from a shop ( rather than your own cow ) does directly require the slaughter of 50% of calves when they are a couple of days old - jersey bulls are no use to a milk farmer.

Incidently, cows do not "enjoy" being milked. They are pumped full of steriods and artificially inceminated so they are pregnent more often that they should be naturally. This is to get the milk yield up to 60 lites/day - a natural amount is about 15 lites.

As a veggie, i don't wear leather for similar reasons

If you want to avoid the animal products in cheese you need to keep away from virtually all non-uk cheese. And even then only go with ones labelled as suitable for Veggies,

It is comon knowledge, its just you didn't know it. If you are concerned about animal products in unsuspecting food stuffs then you need to look at everything, including wines/beers/bread/cake/soups/sauces....even many tinned vegatables have animal prodcuts in them ( colouring/clearing/setting agents for example ) .. Again, the reason they use the animal products is becuase of cost, its generally cheaper than vegetable or synthetic products

Answer 7

No..not all cheese. There are MANY cheese companies that do not use animal rennet. Google rennet-free cheeses and you will come up with a list.

One of my favorites is Cabot's 50% light cheddar.

I'm shocked that so many people do not know what animal rennet is and that it is in some cheeses.

Answer 8

I'm not sure.

I do think it's fairly widely known, it's just that people would rather not think about what they're eating in alot of cases. Did you know that lots of crisps contain animal products – I saw 'lamb powder' on a packet not long ago. What the hell is that?!

I don't think that rennet is any worse than other animal products though, just because it's from calves ...

Answer 9

I've just contacted Pret a Manger and they confirmed that ALL their cheeses are free from animal rennet and suitable for veggies.

Very useful for vegetarian Londoners at least, if you're ever stuck for lunch!

Answer 10

This can't be true as cheese was eaten in the Old Testament and there is a specific command against "Boiling a kid in its mother's milk." And yet Abigail tried to curry favour with King David by taking cheese to his army, and there are other mentions of cheese in the Bible.
You might want to contact a kosher cheese manufacturer and find out what they use.