Vegetarian cheese lovers may be surprised to learn that not every cheese out there is 100% vegetarian friendly. There are many products out there that, at a glance, seem like they are vegetarian – but are not. Upon further inspection, rennet is an ingredient in cheese that is often animal based.
Cheese can be categorized into two kinds – acid or rennet coagulated cheese. Cheeses made with acid are inclusive of lemon juice, vinegar or similar acidic elements to help in the coagulating of the milk. Queso fresco and cream cheese are examples of cheese made with the acidification process. Cheddar, Swiss cheese and most other types of cheese are; however, non-vegetarian as they often contain animal rennet in the coagulation process.
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The cheese making process involves some animal unfriendly elements – animal rennet. Rennet is an enzyme that is found in the lining of a cow or a goat’s stomach, and the enzyme is added to milk, assisting in the proper coagulation – a process in cheese making that separates the curds from whey.
Some cheese making recipes do not call for the use of rennet, and a good substitute can be found in acids like vinegar or lemon juice, but sadly, a lot of the loved and preferred cheeses contain animal rennet.
Rennet is now made available in different forms, and there is actually vegetable based rennet now available but, some cheese manufacturers still prefer to have their cheeses made using animal rennet. And even worse, some of the packaging of these cheeses do not include the exact kind of rennet used, so vegetarians could have been eating food that goes against their ethics for years without even knowing.
Cheeses containing rennet
The majority of cheeses that are made using animal rennet are originally European cheeses. Some cheese companies have switched their procedure to include vegetable-based rennet to provide an option to vegetarian customers. However, a lot of cheese manufacturers still stick to using animal cheese rennet to make their cheese, and some even slyly fail to include this ingredient on their ingredient list.
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- Parmesan cheese
- Manchego
- Gruyere
- Gorgonzola
- Emmenthaler
- Pecorino Romano
- Grana Padano
- Mimolette
- Boucheron
- Camembert
- Vacherin
All of these cheeses may be delicious and well-loved but, vegetarians may not be too pleased to hear that they all are made using animal rennet. Having one of the best cheese makers can help you make most of these cheeses at home.
Cheeses made without rennet
Although coagulating cheese with animal rennet is one way to get it to curd, using acids like vinegar or lemon juice, culture, or with heat is another highly effective way.
Non-animal Rennet
- Cheddar
- Colby
- Feta
- Mozzarella
- Swiss
- Provolone
- Monterey Jack
- Ricotta Cheese
- Cottage Cheese
- Cream Cheese
Cheeses made with Acid
- Queso Blanco
- Paneer
- Ayib
- Bayaslag
- Chhena
- Cream cheese
If you have been eating some of these cheeses without a clue all along, now you know. If you are raising vegetarian kids, you can teach them about rennet. And now, you can act like you never found out and keep consuming in the bliss of ignorance, or you can make the choice to completely avoid these cheeses from now on.
Or, you can make the choice to indulge yourself in some of these certified non-animal rennet cheeses.
Although I am not big on cheese but did not know there was cheese vegetarians couldn’t eat.
It’s good to know the cheeses that contain rennet. Vegetarians will surely love this post. Thanks for sharing.
This is very good point you made and yes, not all vegetarian peeps will be pleased about that. Honestly cheese and I don’t get along and I’m 100% vegan since 2012 too.
I love all type of cheeses, so this is so useful to have when we have people over and they have some dietary restrictions
I had no idea! This is good info for vegans and vegetarians.
Vegans don’t eat any dairy based cheeses, so it doesn’t matter if the cheese does or doesn’t contain rennet.
Valid to those allergic to corn. Rennet cheeses ok. Made with vinegar not ok. Distilled Vinegar is made from corn.
I’m just wondering if Ole Cheese queso Blanco is vegetarian? One ingredient is enzyme but I don’t know if that is derived from animal or vegetarian?
This is so interesting! I never knew that some aren’t vegetarian!
This was a really interesting read, even though I’m not vegan. I’ve never eve heard of rennet before.
I had no idea about this! Thanks for sharing! I’ve never heard of rennet before!
I am familiar with rennet in the cheese-making process. I didn’t realize it wasn’t well known.
This post is really informative. I actually had no idea about cheeses containing rennet.
Thanks for sharing awareness! Glad that my favorite cheese is on the list that doesn’t use animal rennet.
I had no idea! Thanks for the information about rennet. Now I know what to look out for.
I had no idea about that. Well, this is actually the first time that I’ve heard of rennet. 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
The topic is interesting. As much as i love eating cheese. I haven’t known some of the other cheese’s types before.
I’m not a vegetarian but I had no idea about rennet. This is good to know for those that are vegetarians.
What an informative post on cheeses! I had no idea about the rennet and cheese-making process. Thanks for sharing this post with us!
I never knew this. Cheese is one of my favorite things in the world to use for recipes.
wow! It’s an informative post that answers at good question for vegetarians, that my sister is. The is always very careful when choosing cheese.
This is the first time that I heard this and looks so yummy.
This article is interesting and very informative indeed! Thank you for sharing!
I am not a vegetarian but this was very interesting info to learn about! I love cheese of all kinds, except blue cheese.
Good to know that some cheese have rennet and vegetarian don’t like to eat that. You added something valuable to my knowledge. Your blogs always have something new and interesting for me.
This is a wonderful post that contains helpful information about vegetarian-friendly cheeses. I’m sure vegetarians would find this of great value.
this is soo yummy and tasty i am also cheese lover thanks for this recipe.
So how can a consumer find out before purchasing a cheese, if it has rennet? Should we contact the manufacturer?
I like this topic, thanks for useful information! Cheese may be classified into two types: cheese that is produced by adding acid or rennet, which curdles the milk. Acid-fermented cheeses include acidic ingredients such as lemon juice, vinegar, or another acidic agent to assist curdle the milk.
I used to work in a grocery store, and I remember when I learned about rennet in cheese. Some customer asked me if we had vegetarian cheese. I was a little confused and asked, isn’t all cheese vegetarian? They explained to me what rennet was and how it is used in some cheeses. Very strange, but I’m glad I know it now.
Very interesting info to learn about! I love of all kinds cheese. Thanks for the share.
Not correct. Feta is rennet from un weaned lambs, always has been so. European PDO, can only be manufactured in Greece.
This also applies to some cheddar, some mozzarella, swiss, etc., etc. Unless packaging says explicitly that it utilized microbial or vegetable rennet. There are some good lists out there that list companies and each cheese and that particular process for each product – that may be of help, and for those away from the dairy industry in total, vegan options.
This statement in your article is completely wrong: “Milk is harvested from animals –cows, goats, etc – without any harm being inflicted on the animal.”
The entire dairy process involves tremendous harm to cows- pain, torture and then ultimately slaughter. Female cows are artificially inseminated against their will, then when they deliver their baby, the calf is quickly taken away from the mother cow. The mother cow cries and grieves for her loss. The mother cow is hooked up to painful equipment to constantly steal her milk. She often develops painful mastitis from the constant milking which is why there is pus in all milk. ( they call it somatic cells.) If her baby was a boy calf, he will be intentionally malnourished to turn his meat into veal. The mother cow goes through this
horrible cycle of impregnation, stealing of her baby calf, & then constant milking repeatedly until
She can no longer produce and then she is saughtered for her meat.
Animal abused, exploited, and killed when no longer profitable, PLUS adding in their body parts: Not okay.
Animal abused, exploited, and killed when no longer profitable: Yay cheese.
Just leave the cows alone.
I wish to show thanks to you just for bailing me out of this particular trouble.As a result of checking through the the net and meeting techniques that were not productive, I was thinking my life was done.
This is perfect for when we have guests around who have food concerns. Thank you for the information.
I used to work in a grocery store, and I remember when I learned about rennet in cheese. Some customer asked me if we had vegetarian cheese. I was a little confused and asked, isn’t all cheese vegetarian? They explained to me what rennet was and how it is used in some cheeses. Very strange, but I’m glad I know it now.
I thought I knew what foods were vegetarian type foods and what weren’t, but I had no idea about the rennet in certain cheeses. It’s hard when you’re trying to avoid certain things. Even if you read the label, you don’t know what the ingredients are or where they come from.
It’s crazy how many products may appear to be vegetarian or even vegan but in fact aren’t. While I’m not a vegan or vegetarian I’ve come across this sort of thing often when trying to make a meal when my sister comes to visit. She is vegan so it is important that there are no animal products in any of the products when I cook. We even had something very upsetting happen when we went out to eat, she questioned the waiter and the chef about the vegetarian burger and turns out that while the burger was vegan they decided to cook it in the same basting that all the burgers are cooked in. The basting had meat extract in it. I can’t understand why people dealing with food on a daily basis can’t understand what vegan or vegetarian means. For some people it is about taste, for others it is for ethical reasons but it really needs to be respected.
I was completely unaware that many cheeses contain animal rennet. Thanks for clarifying that. It doesn’t affect me, but many of my friends are vegetarians so I will take care to ensure that anything I make with cheese is truly vegetarian. Another option would be to buy the vegan cheese brands my sister buys. Those will definitely be free of any animal products since she does very careful research before buying any products.
Thank you for an enlightening post.
All cheese NOT made with animal rennet are GMO and Do NOT have to be labeled as such. I would much rather have the animal product than GMOs.
Yeah, but your murdered animal organs, still are vaccinated for mRNA, SO there 😝
Animal Rennet is better compared to vegetable rennet because according to the American Cheese Society – most vegetarian cheese is actually made with GMO rennet. And since the FDA passed the GMO rennet as GRAS (generally regarded as safe), cheese producers don’t have to specify what kind of vegetarian/plant rennet they’re using. Eat your organic, non-GMO, animal rennet, raw milk cheese free of antibiotics, hormones and vaccinations. It’s healthy.
🤦🏼 Whose to say your animal rennet wasnt an offshoot from ‘Dolly’ the sheep of UK , vaccinated with mRNA?
As a person with Alpha-gal, finding a vegetarian cheese will make it much easier to reintroduce cheese into my diet in the future.
Love the intention here, but the post is just… not correct. Some Of the cheeses you listed can be made with animal rennet or microbial or vegetable rennet. It is imperative people research the brands themselves and the specific cheeses produced by those brands.