My son says he heard that cheese is made with animal rennet.?

Question

Is this true? If so what are the alternatives for vegans?

Answer 1

Most cheese is made with rennet to get it to curdle. Some cheese is made with vegetarian rennet (derived from plants), however I'm not sure of what brands. Most kosher cheese uses a microbial rennet which is derived from molds. However, if you are vegan, I'm not sure you're supposed to be eating cheese - did you mean vegetarian?

Answer 2

Vegans cannot eat dairy cheese.There are vegan cheeses.In the UK the most common is redwoods cheezly.It comes in different varieties including a melting one suitable for cooking and doing vegan pizzas with.

Vegetarians can eat rennet-free dairy cheese.Look at packets in a supermarkets and you'll find some which say 'suitable for vegetarians' these are the ones which don't use animal rennet.

Answer 3

Many cheeses are but ones without are fairly easy to find. Vegans do not eat cheese though. Many natural markets carry animal rennet free cheese and cabot brand has several animal rennet free cheeses. They all will state on the package either non animal rennet or microbial enzymes.

Answer 4

For vegans you would need a cheese without milk as well as without animal rennet.

there are several about, but they are usually only available in health-food stores, the big chain supermarkets have not yet seen fit to carry them.

For simple vegetarian cheese, look for a vegetarian society approval logo - or sometimes a stores own logo (often a little leaf type of thing). It should also say 'Suitable for vegetarians' somewhere on the label - if it has one. To be honest, most mass-produced cheeses these days are made from veggie rennet as it is easier to use and cheaper for big and small producers. But check anyway.

If from a deli, ask the deli themselves as they are bound to know (in this day & age...!)

Answer 5

Vegans don't eat cheese as it comes from a cow. Most cheese, but not all, does not contain animal rennet now. Most of the time in England, on the label it will have a vegitarian sign on to tell you if it is free from it

Answer 6

Rennet (from calf) is widely used for the fermentation of milk (curds it) that then become cheese, although some manufacturers use vegetarian rennet or synthetized one. Cheese is made from milk which might be a problem if you are vegan, unless you enjoy heavily processed food...
Having vegan cheese is a bit like having chocolate with no cocoa...

Answer 7

vegans don't eat cheese anyway. Vegetarians might. Unless it is clearly marked vegetarian rennet, then its likely animal rennet, which comes from the 4th stomach of a slaughtered baby male calf, discarded by the dairy industry. Vegetarian rennet is from a weed. I use vegetarian rennet to make homemade cheeses. Most whole food stores carry veggie rennet cheeses

Answer 8

Most dairy based cheeses are made with rennet. Some soy cheeses are made with rennet also. You have to check the label. My daughter is vegan and she knows which brands are OK, but she's not home now.

Answer 9

Most commercial cheeses especially Cheddar are made with animal rennet taken from a calve's stomach. Make sure you ask for cheese which has no animal rennet in it.

Answer 10

And vegetarians for that matter. No vegetarian eats cheese with animal rennet in it

I'm new to this forum and had no idea there were so many vegetarian and vegan haters around.

Why are they in this forum I wonder ?

Maybe they cannot communicate without hate, who knows.

And is it also true that many people beleive that all cheese is vegetarian, surely people know what is in their food ?