Is some types of cheese vegitarian?!
Answers: I'm vegitarian, and have been for I guess 5 years. I know that some cheeses are not vegitarian because of the rennet in them, but I was wondering if some things are ok to eat. I mean like certain types of chesses , or if things like "white chedder popcorn" would be ok, because it has cheese, but does that powdered cheese have animal enzimes or plant enzimes? Thanks
Yes, you can find rennetless cheeses or cheeses that are made with vegetable rennet. Tillamook labels all of their cheeses and is available at major grocery stores. I don't at cheese so I haven't thoroughly investigated, but I'd think the cheeses sold at Whole Foods or health food stores would be labeled as well (or the employees would know.) As for powdered cheeses in snack foods, you'd have to read the igredients and if that doesn't clear it up, call or e-mail the manufacturer. If you ask the source of their ingredients, they will usually be good about telling you.
No, all kinds of cheese contain cow heart and bowel.
maybe a cheese made of tofu? its possible.
Cheese is always a tough call. You have to read every label that contains it to see if it is vegetarian or not. I've always found it 50-50.
most cheesemakers these days don't use rennet for coagulation..
There are vegan cheeses available at most health food stores...it doesn't quite taste like 'normal' cheese, it's a bit of an acquired taste if you ask me. Some vegetarians don't consider vegetable-based rennet cheese non-vegetarian, but others do...it's up to you.
You would have to read the food labels to find out if that particular ingredient is in there. There is a health food store just down the road from my office and they sell soy cheese. You can definitely tell that it is not made like traditional cheese due to taste and texture. It is something that I think is an acquired taste.
Hey
If on the ingredients it says "microbial enzymes" then that replaces the rennet. If it says Rennet and/or microbial enzymes, then I wouldn't eat it. microbial enzymes is man made to replace rennet.
Rennet is in a lot of processed foods, so watch out for frozen pizza etc.
Hi,
Here are the ones I know of:
Cabot, except cheddars
Horizon Organics
Marin French Cheese company - Rouge et Noir cheese, Brie, Camembert, bleu (sold at Whole Foods)
Tillamook (except special 2 year reserve cheddar)
Kraft - Domestic Swiss and all Philledelphia Brand cream cheeses
As far as the powdered cheeses, if it does not say on the label, it would be best to contact the company and ask who provides their cheeses and if they are animal rennet free.
what was the point in the first answer ?
Anyone ?
You cannot make assumptions like "all mature cheddar" will be veggie. It depends entirely on the individual manufacturer.
Most veggie cheese I know is marked up as such, they use a vegetable derived rennet.
Cheese flavour produce like chips ( crisps ) have to be treated in the same way, some are veggie, some are not. you have to go by the package labelling or a statement from the manufacturer.
Most cheese manufacturers that use vegetable rennet have made a concious effort to change and so will likely want to get some "mileage" out of thier decision and label up the product to attract veggies.
Just to give you an idea of the ratios: About 80% of US cheese is non-veggie, about 90% of canadian, and about 50% of UK cheese. Source: Percentages are by production volume of cheese manufacturing - report by viva in late 2007 ( probably autumn edition ). This doesn't mean just blocks of cheese, it includes processed cheese products ( Pizza, chips, pies ) etc
In the UK, the bulk of non-veggie cheeese is that which is imported.
Most cheeses don't label up the ingredients ( its an exempt product for some reason ) so you have to go on the "suitable for vegetarians" label
Lacto and lacto-ovo vegetarians can eat cheese made with microbial enzymes, but not rennet. Microbial enzymes are plant derived, where as rennet comes from the stomach of a veal calf. A lot of manufacturers make cheese with microbial enzymes because it is cheaper, but some still use rennet.
Just read the list of ingredients, if it reads microbial enzymes than they are plant derived and therefore suitable for vegetarians. If it says rennet than it is not suitable for vegetarians.
yeah most supermarkets have a vegetarian cheese
Rennet is used more in hard cheezes. So stuff like cream cheeze most likely wouldnt have it (but would probably have some other animal ingredient unless from whole foods). Parmesan is like the hardest cheese, so like most parmeseans have rennet. But all horizon organic cheeses are vegetarian im pretty sure, and they tell on their labels if they are vegetarian. I think they have a vegetarian parmesean. But if you need cheese just go to whole foods or maybe even the natural section of your grocery store if there is one and at least whole foods will have one you can eat.
Many of these folks are on the right track, but here is a relatively decent sized list of domestic producers of artisan and farmstead cheese that utilize vegetarian coagulants to produce their cheese:
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
Most of them have websites, but you can also find alternative points of contact in Jeffrey Roberts' "The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese"
I hope this helps!
Yeah. Cheeses are kind of out.
toe cheese