results of cheese/rennet research
Megan Milligan
a combination of my own research & emailings, & other people kind enough to
email me info they found. To those who emailed me privately & on the
groups, thank you! :-)
My findings are presented in no particular order.
Megan
============================================================================
====================
Here's what I heard back from the Wild Oats Health Food Stores:
Thank you for supporting our Private Label Cheese! All of our Private Label
Cheeses are made with Microbial Enzymes. When we developed our packaging (
circa '98) the interstate label laws required us to state enzymes. We are
looking to update our labels this year, when this occurs we will be adding
microbial to our stickers. Microbial is neither animal or vegetable but is
cultured in a lab from a plant source. I hope that answers your questions.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Take Care,
Cara Lovett
Customer Service Coordinator
1-800-494-WILD
============================================================================
====================
An email on the vegetarian support group list letting me know about
Horizon-brand cheeses:
Horizon is a brand that produced rennetless cheese. They are
organic. They are also hormone, antibiotic and pesticide free. They
also promote environment and animal welfare.
Their website is www.horizonorganic.com
============================================================================
====================
Here is the email I got from Kroger Grocers. They own Smith's Food Stores,
Kroger, Ralph's, Food 4 Less, & several other stores (for a complete list
check out "about us" at www.kroger.com). As stated, they use microbial
enzymes, but they can't guarantee that they won't ever use animal rennet, so
take your own chances with this one.
Dear Ms. Milligan:
Thank you for contacting us. Most often we use a rennet
substitute that is microbial. However, depending on supply, we may at times
have
to use calf or pork rennet. We cannot guarantee that an animal rennin will
not be used in the natural and processed cheeses. The only cheese that we
can guarantee that microbial enzymes are used is the cottage cheese.
Thanks again for contacting us and please feel free to e-mail any furthur
questions.
Sincerely,
Cathy Winston
============================================================================
====================
I'm a Hickory Farms nut, so I tried emailing Hickory Farms & this is what i
got:
This information is not readily available, we will request it from our
Quality Control group and email you back. Please be patient as it may
take a few days to obtain the information.
I have yet to hear back from them.
============================================================================
====================
Links from Trader Joe's websites about which of their cheeses contain rennet
and which are rennet-free:
http://traderjoes.com/products/brochures/rennet_west.asp
http://traderjoes.com/products/brochures/rennet_east.asp
============================================================================
====================
For those of you in the UK, I was emailed this address about UK cheeses:
www.isitveggie.com
============================================================================
====================
Undoubtedly, the best gem I've found so far. I'm posting the complete list
from this website http://nutmeg.gen.nz/veggie/rennet.html naming
rennet/rennetless cheeses because the original webpage is black text on a
dark green background. There's a lot more good information on this site if
you want to brave eyestrain. :-)
VEGETARIAN CHEESES
Bresse Bleu Montrachet. Bresse Bleu Inc., N. 2002 Hwy 26,Watertown, WI
53094, (414) 261-3036. The Montrachet varieties are their only products
which are vegetarian.
Cabot Monterey Jack and Vitalait Cheese. Cabot Creamery,PO Box 128, Cabot,
VT 05647, (802) 563-2231. These products use microbial systems. Their
cheddar uses rennet.
Coach Farm Goat's Milk Cheeses. The Coach Farm, RR1 Box 445, Pine Plains, NY
12567, (518) 398-5325. All of their cheese products are vegetarian, without
preservatives.
Falbo Cheese. Falbo Cheese, 1931 N. 15th Ave., Melrose Park, IL 60160,
800-982-0753. They carry a wide variety of Italian cheeses, all of which use
only microbial systems and are therefore vegetarian. Available in grocery
stores.
Fleur de Lait Neufchatel Cheese with Garden Vegetables, and Neufchatel
Cheese with Herb and Spice. Fleur de Lait Foods,Ltd., 254 Custer Ave., New
Holland, PA 17557. We have determined these two varieties of Fleur de Lait
cheeses to be vegetarian from reading their labels.
Kraft Domestic Swiss and Kraft Neufchatel Cheese. Kraft General Foods, Kraft
Court, Glenview, IL 60025. These are their only two products that are
vegetarian.
Lifetime Natural and Lifetime Fat Free Cheeses. Lifeline Food Co., Inc., 426
Orange St., Seaside, CA 93955, (408) 899-5040. All their products use only
microbial enzymes.
Morningland Dairy Organic Raw Milk Natural Cheeses.Morningland Dairy, Rt. 1,
Box 188B, Mountain View, MO 65548,(417) 469-3817. All of their 13 varieties
of cheeses are vegetarian, organic and contain no artificial colors. Mail
order.
Mozzarella Company Caciotas, Montasio and Pecorino. Mozzarella Company, 2944
Elm St, Dallas, TX 75226, (214) 741-4072. These are their varieties which
contain no animal rennet. Cow's milk and goat's milk cheeses available.
Organic Valley Farms Organic Cheeses. Organic Valley, Main St.,PO Box 159,
La Farge, WI 54639, (608) 625-2602. Organic Valley offers both raw milk and
regular cheeses, all of which are vegetarian and organic.
Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese. Kraft General Foods, Kraft Court,Glenview,
IL 60025.
Pollio Mozzarella and Pollio Ricotta Cheese. Pollio Dairy Products
Corporation, 120 Mineola Blvd.,Mineola, NY 11501, (516) 741-8000. These are
probably available in regular grocery stores.
Shalom Farms Organic Cheese. Shalom Farms,RD 1, Box 1628A, Bethel, PA 19507,
(717)933-4880. All their cheeses are vegetarian. Raw milk and regular
cheese.
Tillamook Cheese (except for the regular Cheddar Cheeses).Tillamook County
Creamery, PO Box 313, Tillamook, OR 97141.They have 4 vegetarian varieties:
Monterey Jack, Colby,Kosher and Low Sodium Cheddar.
Walnut Acres Cheeses (except for Baby Swiss). Walnut Acres,Walnut Acres Rd,
Penns Creek, PA 17862, 800-433-3998 to place an order, 800-344-9025 for a
catalog. Walnut Acres is an organic farm which has a wide variety of both
cow's milk and goat's milk cheeses available by mail order. The Baby Swiss
variety is being discontinued.
SOY CHEESE/CHEESE ALTERNATIVES
All soy cheeses are vegetarian. Some do contain calcium casienate or
'casein', which is a milk derivative. It is a protein which is the
ingredient that enables soy cheese to melt like regular cheese. A few pure
vegetarian (vegan) cheeses do exist, but are less similar to regular cheese
in texture, and they do not melt quite the same. The vegan cheeses are also
listed below and are marked with an asterisk (*).
*Better Than Cream Cheese. Tofutti Brands, Inc., 5- Jackson Dr., Cranford,
NJ 07016, (201) 272-2400. Vegan.
*Mrs. Margareten's Parvemage. Margareten Enterprises, 2900 Review Ave, Long
Island City, NY 11101. They carry one of the few lines of vegan soy cheese.
Various flavors are available including cream cheese and sour cream.
NuTofu. Cemac Foods Corp, 1821 E. Sedgley Ave, Philadelphia,PA 19124,
800-724-0179. NuTofu sliced soy cheeses, alternative cheese spreads, cream
cheese and dips.
Soy A Melt. White Wave Soyfoods Inc., 6123 Arapahoe Rd, Boulder,CO 80303,
(303) 443-3470. They offer a wide variety of soy cheeses made with organic
tofu.
Soya Kaas. American Natural Snacks, PO box 1067, St. Augustine,FL 32085,
(904) 825-2057. These soy cheeses are available in a variety of flavors.
Soyco. Soyco Foods, PO Box 5204, New Castle, PA 16105,800-441-9419, (412)
656-1102. Mail order is available through Joanne's Selections, 800-874-7952.
This is a line of soy cheese that comes in various flavors and includes
parmesan,sour cream and cream cheeses.
*Soymage. Soyco Foods, PO Box 5204, New Castle, PA 16105,800-441-9419, (412)
656-1102. Mail order is available through Joanne's Selections, 800-874-7952.
Soymage vegan cheese substitute in various flavors and vegan sour cream.
Tofu-Rella. Sharon's Finest, P.O. Box 5020,Santa Rosa, CA 95402, (707)
576-7050. Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Jalapeno Jack,Mozzarella, and Garlic-Herb
soy cheeses.
CHEESES CONTAINING RENNET
Blue Castello, Blue Note. Tholstrup Cheese USAInc., 1 Mountain Blvd., P.O.
Box 4194, Warren,NJ 07059-0194, (201) 756-6320. These varieties contain
rennet.
Bresse-Bleu Brie and Bresse-Bleu Bleu Cheeses. These contain rennet. Address
listed above.
Cabot Cheddar Cheese. Cabot Creamery,previously listed. Only the cheddar
cheese uses rennet. The Monterey Jack and Vitalait use microbial enzymes.
Dorman-Roth Foods. Dorman-Roth Foods, 14 Empire Blvd., Moonachie, NJ 07074,
(201)440-3600. From their letter, "We are unable to state with certainty
that any particular cheese does not contain animal enzymes."
Fleur de Lait. We did not receive a response from Fleur de Lait, but from
reading labels determined that the two cheeses mentioned above are
vegetarian. We are assuming that the rest of their products contain animal
enzymes.
Kraft Cheese Products. Most Kraft cheeses may contain rennet. Exceptions and
address listed under vegetarian cheese section.
Land O'Lakes Cheeses. Land O'Lakes Inc., P.O.Box 116, Minneapolis, MN 55440,
(800)328-4155. `We can not guarantee that any of our cheeses do not contain
rennet.'
Maytag Blue Cheese. Maytag Dairy Farms, Box 806, Newtown, IA 50208, (800)
247-2458,(515) 792-1133. All of the Maytag cheeses contain rennet.
Mozzarella Company. Most of their products contain rennet. Those which don't
are listed under the vegetarian cheese section. Address previously listed.
Pollio Cheese Products. Except for those mentioned above, their products
contain animal enzymes.
Saga Soft Ripened Cheeses. Tholstrup Cheese USA Inc., 1 Mountain Blvd., P.O.
Box 4194,Warren, NJ 07060-0194, (201) 756-6320. All of the Saga varieties
contain rennet.
Tolko Specialty Cheeses. Tholstrup Cheese, 1Mtn. Blvd., Box 4194, Warren, NJ
07060-0194,(201) 756-6320. Imported cheeses fromDenmark, all of which
contain rennet.
Tillamook Cheddar Cheeses (Medium, Sharp,Extra Sharp). These contain rennet.
Address previously listed.
WHAT ABOUT KOSHER CHEESE?
Cheese that is certified kosher, may or may not be vegetarian. Your best bet
is to read the labels. As stated in the February 1991 issue of Kashrus
Magazine, 'If the source of rennet is a kosher species of animal, ritually
slaughtered under rabbinical supervision, it may be used to turn milk into
cheese.' Gili Kosher Cheeses are vegetarian.