question about cheese

[Flopsy Rabbit]

if it says enzymes in the ingredients and not renet, does that mean it is ok to eat?

 

[Wags]

That means that there is no animal product (other than milk of course) in it - so it should be kosher to eat. Of course without the kosher label it can't be called kosher.

 

[Sephania]

You mean it can't be called Kosher by the Orthodox. Just because they don't certify something does not mean it isn't Kosher,Unless you follow Rabbinic Kosher...

 

[Sephania]

if it says enzymes in the ingredients and not renet, does that mean it is ok to eat?

It depends on where the enzymes come from Flopsy.

Cheese is made by coagulating milk to give curds which are then separated from the liquid, whey, after which they can be processed and matured to produce a wide variety of cheeses. Milk is coagulated by the addition of rennet. The active ingredient of rennet is the enzyme, chymosin (also known as rennin). The usual source of rennet is the stomach of slaughtered newly-born calves. Vegetarian cheeses are manufactured using rennet from either fungal or bacterial sources. Advances in genetic engineering processes means they may now also be made using chymosin produced by genetically altered micro-organisms.

The next stage is the addition of rennet, containing the enzyme chymosin. Rennet is usually sourced from the abomasum (fourth stomach) of newly-born calves. Here, chymosin aids the digestion and absorption of milk. Adult cows do not have this enzyme. Chymosin is extracted by washing and drying the stomach lining, which is then cut into small pieces and macerated in a solution of boric acid or brine at 30°C for 4-5 days. Pepsin may sometimes be used instead of chymosin. This is usually derived from the abomasum of grown calves or heifers, or less commonly pigs. Pepsin may be mixed with calf rennin. Rennet coagulates the milk, separating it into curds and whey. This is called curdling.

Chymosin and Pepsin are both enzymes, which as you can see above can come from calves, cows, or Pigs.

Vegetarian cheeses are made with rennets of non-animal origin. In the past, fig leaves, melon, wild thistle and safflower have all supplied plant rennets for cheese making. However, most widely available vegetarian cheeses are made using rennet produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei. Vegetarian cheese may also be made using a rennet from the bacteria Bacillus subtilis or Bacillus prodigiosum.

 

[Sephania]

Flopsy, here is a listing of all brands of cheese that use no pig or unkosher cow rennet:

Click on this Cheese Link to see them listed by what kind ( cheddar, swiss, blue)

Click on this Cheese Link to see them listed by brand name ( Bonbel, Cabot, Boars head, Land O Lakes, Miller ( which is also certified Kosher) Stella ) etc

 

[Flopsy Rabbit]

The cheese in question is Lucerne, Safeway brand. It is half the price of the Tilimuk cheese. Any way to find out if that brand would be kosher? Vegetarian cheese is so expensive and hard to find, I was hoping to find some that was kosher that would be more affordable, or we just cant eat much cheese at all, too expensive.

what about milk, I saw on a site that Fred Meyer milk was all kosher, I thought all plain milk was kosher? What would make milk not kosher?

Thanks for all your info Zayit, I am glad you share your knowledge, you sure know alot.

 

[Talmidah]

Under Jewish law, an observant Jew has to put the enzymes into the milk, regardless of the individual ingredients. If this doesn't happen, it is not kosher.

However, if you don't follow rabbinical law, it is a moot point and any cheese not containing rennet from pigs would be fine for you.

 

[Sephania]

The cheese in question is Lucerne, Safeway brand. It is half the price of the Tilimuk cheese. Any way to find out if that brand would be kosher? Vegetarian cheese is so expensive and hard to find, I was hoping to find some that was kosher that would be more affordable, or we just cant eat much cheese at all, too expensive.

what about milk, I saw on a site that Fred Meyer milk was all kosher, I thought all plain milk was kosher? What would make milk not kosher?

Thanks for all your info Zayit, I am glad you share your knowledge, you sure know alot.

Actually in my neck of the woods, the vegetarian brands ( the ones listed on that cheese list Flopy are not advertised as purely vegetarian, in other words they aren't organic. ) I find organic the most costly then Kosher certified then the ones listed as using vegetable rennet on those lists are fairly reasonable, not all of course because some are considered gourmet brands, but ones like Stella and boars head you can find on sale. Also My local food store Giant , their brand is also vegetarian rennet based. A friend of mine who was so wonderful to look up cheeses that I could eat when she invited me for dinner even emailed the local store ( a Weiss supermarket) and asked about their brand, apparently they use the veggie rennet as well.

So I would suggest finding an email address for Safeway and email them and ask about their cheese. TO keep confusion down, just tell them you are eating vegetarian cheese only and what kind of rennet do they use to process their cheeses. Make sure you ask for a detailed list, as not all stores have all types of their cheese made the same way. For instance their cheddar could be made with vegetable rennet but not their parmesan.

Yes 100% milk is Kosher, they probably just have a Kosher certification, which doesnt' make it anymore Kosher though.

I looked around the net to see if anyone else had checked out to see if lucerne was veggie or not and couldnt find anything. But I did find a snail mail address for you to write them. You can give them your email address for return correspondence if you like, but they had so many links for contact I figured the corporate address was best to write to.

Customer Service Center
Safeway, Inc.
20427 N 27th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Glad to help!~

 

[Talmidah]

From the internet:

Safeway brand "Lucerne" white cheeses (such as mozzarella, etc) contain vegetable enzymes, orange/yellow colored cheeses (such as American and Cheddar) contain animal enzymes.
Source: 1-888-723-3929 called 7/29/04

 

[Flopsy Rabbit]

Thanks a bunch everybody!

 

[Sephania]

From the internet:

You are a better keyworder than I Tal!