Is cheese vegetarian?

Question

Is cheese vegetarian?

Answer 1

it depends some vegaterians dont eat meat but some also dont eat anything that comes from animals such as cheese and milk

Answer 2

some consider it to be vegetarian, but it is most definitley not vegan, because it comes from an animal

rennet is an animal product, not vegetarian [be careful, this is in soy cheese too sometimes]

Answer 3

NO!  Most cheese is not vegetarian, contrary to popular belief.  All cheese contains rennet (it's what causes the milk to curdle), but very few cheeses use rennet that comes from a vegetarian source.  Rennet comes from the stomachs of baby cows.

So people who eat non-vegetarian cheese cannot call themselves vegetarians any more than people who eat gelatin can.

Answer 4

As others have mentioned, rennet isn't vegetarian, as it's an enzyme from stomachs of young cows.  

That said, many cheeses are made with vegetarian enzymes (more than you'd expect).  You just need to read the labels.  It's not hard to find rennet-less cheese if you just take a minute to read the ingredients before buying.

Answer 5

Actually, contrarily to all these answers, most cheeses are likely to contain RENNET, an animal by product derived from the stomach of killed calves. So, it's not vegetarian if there's rennet.

Some are non-animal rennet, there are some of those available around your local health food stores.

Answer 6

It's vegetarian but not vegan.....

Answer 7

yes, but not vegan.

Answer 8

it depends.. if the packaging says vegetarian..  becuase most cheeses use rennet.. which derives from cow stomach.. perferably the young ones..

is it gross.. yes..  will most vegetarians turn the other cheek .. yes

Answer 9

Yes and no.  If you are a vegetarian who eats milk products than ur ok.  But if your a vegan...than no.  No animal products whatsoever.

Answer 10

vegetarian -  person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, or fowl

vegan - a vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet. including cheese, milk, eggs etc. a lot of vegans won't wear animal products like leather either.

Answer 11

well its depends what kind of vegetarian you are

Lacto-Vegetarian ---- means you can eat like dairy products, milk, cheese etc...

Lacto-ovo-Vegetarian----means like egss and stuff like that

hope that helped :]

Answer 12

There are vegetarian friendly cheeses that contain no animal rennet.  Most will say on the label.

Answer 13

yes because its not meat but its not vegan because it still comes from animals so they go a bit more strict with it

Answer 14

Yes, its vegetarian, but not vegan.

Answer 15

Well, it does come from a cow but I'm pretty  sure it is vegitarian because then butter wouldn't be vegitarian.

Answer 16

In a broader view cheese although made with calf rennet was considered as being vegetarian by most of the people. If you think of it, you have to admit that the milk which is used to produce cheese is only available because of the fact that the cow gave birth to a calf. Every vegetarian knows that these calves are slaughtered anyway and that the rennet was not extracted from its stomach while the calf was still alive.

However, here is a big relief: Nowadays rennet can also be produced with genetically modified micro-organisms which is cheaper and easier to handle and therefore synthetic rennet is used more and more in industrial cheese production without being declared specifically on the label which still says 'rennet'.

Answer 17

If it does not contain rennet, then yes