How do you know if cheese has rennet in it?!
Answers: I know that rennet can be found in cheese, but I have never seen it listed in the ingredients. What they do list is enzymes, and I would like to know if that's the same thing or if it differs.
In the USA, about 80% of cheese has calve rennet in it.
In the UK, its about 50% and thats mainly the imported variations.
Cheese does not have to list ingredients because its a culture and not a processed food.
If you want a vegetarian or vegan cheese, you have to specifically look for the statement on the labelling.
Enzymes could be veggie or animal derived.
"Enzymes" can mean either rennet or microbial enzymes.
Very few, if any, brands of cheese made in the USA ever use the word "rennet" on their ingredients.
I just buy Cabot Cheese because I know it doesn't have rennet.
I'm not sure, but I do know that Cabot cheese doesn't use animal rennet, and it is some darn good cheese, especially their extra sharp cheddar.
if you buy vegan cheese....you know it will not have rennet in it.
While cheese is traditionally made with animal derived rennet, microbial and vegetal rennets do exist and are finding more ground in America than other countries. Most producers in the States will simply list 'rennet' if it is animal (traditional) rennet. Anything listed as Enzymes or just about anything besides 'rennet' on the label with the 'milk' & 'salt' tends to infer that it is vegetarian cheese.
I don't believe the aforementioned percentage on domestic dairies is that high on animal rennet utilization as most of the larger factories have and are migrating to a vegetarian solution.
There are very few old world producers who utilize a coagulant that isn't animal based, but you can benefit from the following list for domestic dairies. This list is a work in progress, but it is by far the most complete listing you'll currently find on the internet or in any book on the market:
Domestic Dairies that provide cheeses made with a vegetarian rennet:
Achadinha Cheese Company - Petaluma, CA
Alsea Acre Goat Cheese - Alsea, OR
Amaltheia Dairy - Belgrade, MT
Appel Farms - Ferndale, WA (veg rennet for all but one, an aged gouda only available on the farm)
Appleton Creamery - Appleton, ME (Organic Veg)
Beecher's Handmade Cheese - Seattle, WA
Beltane Farm - Lebanon, CT
Black Mesa Ranch - Snowflake, AZ
Bodega Goat Cheese - Bodega, CA
Bulger Creek Farm - Notasulga, AL
Bush Meadow - Union, CT (switching to vegetarian rennet)
Calabro Cheese - East Haven, CT
Carlisle Farmstead Cheese - Carlisle, MA
Catapano Dairy - Peconic, NY
Cato Corner - Colchester, CT (Vivace uses Microbial, otherwise Animal)
Cedar Grove Cheese - Plain, WI
Celebrity Dairy - Siler City, NC
Clover Mead Farm - Keeseville, NY (microbial, switching to cert organic microbial)
Coach Farm - Pine Plains, NY
Cobb Hill Cheese - Hartland, VT
County Meadows - Canton, NY
Cowgirl Creamery - Point Reyes Station, CA
Dona Blanca House of Cheese & Dairy - Saint Rose, LA
Drake Family Farms - West Jordan, UT
Elodie Farms - Rougemont, NC (soft {less than 2 months} use synthetic, hard {3+ months} use animal)
Faribault Dairy Company - Faribault, MN
Farmers All Natural Creamery - Wellman, IA
Firefly Farms - Bittinger, MD
Fiore di Nonno - Lincoln, MA
Fiscalini Farmstead Cheese Company - Modesto, CA
Fraga Farm Goat Cheese - Sweet Home, OR
Frog City Cheese - Plymouth Notch, VT
Gillis Acres Farm - Greenwich, NY
Grafton Village Cheese Company - Grafton, VT
Harley Farms Goat Dairy - Pescadero, CA
Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy - Ada, OK
Heamour Farm - Madison, NY
Hillman Farm - Colrain, MA (fresh uses goat or microbial)
Liberty Fields Farm - Saco, ME
Little Falls Farm - Harrison, ME (Have used Animal, Vegetable and Microbial)
Locust Grove Farm - Knoxville, TN
Mauthe's Dairy - Folsom, LA
Meyenberg Goat Milk Products - Turlock, CA
Monroe Cheese Studio - Monroe, ME
Mozzarella Company - Dallas, TX
Neighborly Farms of Vermont - Randolph Center, VT
Nettle Meadow Goat Farm - Warrensburg, NY (organic veg for chevre & fromage blanc, animal for kunik)
Northland Sheep Dairy - Marathon, NY
Painted Goat Farm - New Lisbon, NY (animal w/ special batches for family with microbial)
Pholia Farm - Rogue River, OR
Rockhill Creamery - (only feta made with veg, the rest with calf rennet)
Roth Kase - Monroe, WI
Rustling Wind Creamery - Falls Village, CT
Samish Bay Cheese - Bow, WA
Sandwhich Creamery - North Sandwhich, NH
Seal Cove Farm - Lamoine, ME
Sierra Nevada Cheese Company - Willows, CA
Silvery Moon Creamery - Westbrook, ME (originally used a veg rennet w/ good results, but found organic microbial to use now)
Skyhill Napa Valley Farms - Napa, CA
Sleepygoat Cheese - Pelham, NC
Smith's Country Cheese - Winchendon, MA
South Mountain Creamery - Middletown, MD
Spinning Spider Creamery - Marshall, NC
Split Creek Farm - Anderson, SC
State of Maine Cheese Company - Rockport, ME (Organic Microbial)
Steamboat Island Goat Farm - Olympia, WA
Stoney Acres Sheep Dairy - Competition, MO
Sunset Acres Farm - Brooksville, ME (vegetable for 10 years, haven't tried microbial)
Surfing Goat Dairy - Kula, HI
Sweet Grass Dairy - Thomasville, GA (animal for ga gouda & grn hill, microbial for rest)
Sweetwater Valley Cheese - Philadelphia, TN
Taylor Farm - Londonderry, VT
Three Sisters Farmstead Cheese - Lindsay, CA
Vermont Shepherd/Major Farm - Putney, VT
Via Lactea - Brookfield, NH (calves rennet in one aged cheese, microbial in rest)
Washington State University Creamery - Pullman, WA
West River Creamery - Londonderry, VT
Westfield Farm - Hubbardston, MA
Willamette Valley Cheese Company - Salem, OR (3 diff rennets)
Willow Hill Farm - Milton, VT
Whole Foods and other specialty stores are likely to carry some of these cheeses.
Cheers!