Use of word "rennet" on labels

November 9, 2009 11:00 AM

If a food lists rennet among its ingredients, am I right in assuming that it is most likely animal rennet?

To put it another way, if the labels simply says "rennet," can I assume it is not vegetable, microbial or genetically engineered rennet and therefore is not appropriate for a vegetarian to eat? Or might some manufacturers use "rennet" as an umbrella term?

posted by Morrigan to food & drink (12 comments total)

Yes. If it is a non-animal form of the stuff that makes cheese hard, the maker will note it (as this is done in order to make it more palatable for vegetarians).
posted by Danf at 11:02 AM on November 9, 2009

I wouldn't trust it. If the label doesn't specify the where the rennet came from, it probably came from an animal.
posted by kittensofthenight at 11:02 AM on November 9, 2009

or what danf said
posted by kittensofthenight at 11:04 AM on November 9, 2009

According to Wikipedia, the non-animal stuff is cheaper and more readily available in North America.

It all gets labeled as rennet, though. Definitely an umbrella term.
posted by Netzapper at 11:05 AM on November 9, 2009

Some more info on rennet. So I guess it really depends on what you mean by animal. Most rennet used now adays does not come from manuals.
posted by bigmusic at 11:10 AM on November 9, 2009

erm mammals.
posted by bigmusic at 11:11 AM on November 9, 2009

In my experience, if a manufacturer is going to go out of their way to use microbial or vegetable rennet they'll be likely to state it explicitly since the people who care about such things are the type to read ingredients lists. I'm not a vegetarian, but I share a refrigerator with one, so I've had a number of conversations with the people at the cheese shop, and they've indicated to me that if it says rennet, without any qualifiers, then it's likely animal-sourced.

But then again, IANA cheese-maker.
posted by lekvar at 11:50 AM on November 9, 2009

The Whole Foods house-brand cheese says "Vegetarian" in big letters on the front, indicating it is veg. rennet.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:53 AM on November 9, 2009

Almost certainly microbial but there is no way to be 100% confident wiithout further information. Microbial rennets are allowed with the vegetarian claim. Most large scale commercial cheese making involves rennet from GM bacteria if that matters to you.
posted by Fiery Jack at 12:40 PM on November 9, 2009

If a food lists rennet among its ingredients, am I right in assuming that it is most likely animal rennet?

It's a simple question and it deserves a simple answer. If a food lists "rennet" among its ingredients, than you are correct in assuming that it is most likely animal rennet.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 1:33 PM on November 9, 2009

It's my understanding that most mass-produced cheeses (i.e., the big blocks of cheddar/jack/etc. in the milk aisle, not the expensive little blocks in the deli/specialty section) use non-animal rennet because it's much cheaper. I've also heard that vegetable and bacterial rennets are trickier coagulants, so larger sized cheese makers are able to get better results with them because of their industrialized processes.

I've grown less fanatic about my vegetarianism over the years, so I don't worry about mass produced cheeses and only bother to confirm the use of vegetable rennet in the fancy, expensive stuff. YMMV.
posted by maniactown at 3:32 PM on November 9, 2009

Ta-da!

I struggle with the same question. This site lists many (though I wouldn't say most) vegetarian cheeses, by type of cheese or by manufacturer.
posted by srrh at 9:45 PM on November 9, 2009 [1 favorite]