How do you know which cheeses don't use rennet?

Question

I understand that if it's marked "kosher" it doesn't use rennet, but I can't even find any marked Kosher.

A lot of times, instead of rennet, it just says "enzymes" are used to cure it, I don't know what they mean by that.

Answer 1

no Kraft cheese is vegetarian except for Philadelphia - I researched this.
http://cheese.joyousliving.com/CheeseListBrand.aspx
The link above will answer your question.
I buy Organic Valley cheese and its great..I also buy Amys pizzas which use veg. mozzarella.

Answer 2

One of the best ways I have found for answering this type of question, is googling it. It comes in very handy.

Check the ingredients closely. If the following are listed then they include rennet:

proteolytic enzyme (protease)
chymosin (EC 3.4.23.4)
pepsin
lipase

There are vegetable rennets out there.
Many plants have coagulating properties. Some examples include fig tree bark, nettles, thistles, mallow, and Creeping Charlie. Rennet from thistle or cynara is used in some traditional cheese production in the Mediterranean.

These real vegetable rennets are also suitable for vegetarians. Vegetable rennet might be used in the production of kosher cheeses but nearly all kosher cheeses are produced with either microbial rennet or GM rennet. Worldwide, there is no industrial production for vegetable rennet. Commercial so-called vegetable rennets usually contain rennet from the mold Mucor miehei - see microbial rennet below

Hope this helps a little.

Answer 3

hope this helps x

Vegetable rennet
Many plants have coagulating properties. Some examples include fig tree bark, nettles, thistles, mallow, and Creeping Charlie. Rennet from thistle or cynara is used in some traditional cheese production in the Mediterranean.

These real vegetable rennets are also suitable for vegetarians. Vegetable rennet might be used in the production of kosher cheeses but nearly all kosher cheeses are produced with either microbial rennet or GM rennet. Worldwide, there is no industrial production for vegetable rennet. Commercial so-called vegetable rennets usually contain rennet from the mold Mucor miehei

Answer 4

The term "kosher" usually has to do with the way an animal is slaughtered....it has nothing to do with whether a product contains rennet. For example, Yo-plait yogurt is marked "kosher," but it contains gelatin that is made from beef.

You want to look for packages that say "do not contain animal products/animal bi-products." If you have a Whole Foods by you, they have packages that are clearly marked. Large chain grocery stores that have health food sections will have cheese that vegetarians can eat. Most commercial cheeses contain rennet. That includes the cheese used to make frozen pizzas or the cheeses in like Rice-A-Roni products.

I emailed a bunch of companies to determine what was "vegetarian safe" and what wasn't.

It's scary to learn what is in prepackaged food that you don't know you are eating....

Good luck!

Answer 5

I think Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org) might have a list of cheeses that don't have rennet. Trader Joe's also lists which cheeses they sell have rennet and which don't.

That failing, you will have to contact the company and/or read labels.

Answer 6

If the package says enzymes it will mean animal by product, if a non animal product is used then it would be clearly stated on the package. To help you learn about ingredients and their meaning you can go to caring consumer.com and type ingredients into the space bar and it will take you to a page of listings.

If you can't find Kosher don't worry the sites below can direct you to what is acceptable:

http://www.vivausa.org/activistresources/guides/veganbasics2.htm#milk
http://www.natural-connection.com/resource/tnc_reference_library/cheese.html