Some Brits have been turned off the cheese due to learning how it is made. Traditionally, cheese is made by churning cow’s milk – but parmesan is a little different
Parmesan cheese is one of the country’s most loved cheeses – but foodies have been put off the product after discovering how it’s actually made.
Would you like some parmesan with that? is a very common question asked at thousands of Italian restaurants across the country and the answer is always “yes please”. No pasta dish feels complete with a generous sprinkling of the hard cheese on top. However, some Brits have been turned off the product due to learning how it is made. Traditionally, cheese is made by churning cow’s milk. But parmesan is a little different.
Parmesan cheese is a combination of milk and salt – like most cheeses – but it’s also made with animal rennet which is an enzyme that comes from the fourth lining of the stomach of animals, typically calves, goats, and lambs. This enzyme helps the animal digest their mother’s milk.
Rennet is an important ingredient in traditional parmesan and it does mean that the animals have to be slaughtered for the cheesemakers to extract the substance. So it does mean that parmesan is not vegetarian. One X user, formerly Twitter, user took to social media to share their shock at learning this. They posted: “I was today years old when I found out parmesan cheese is made from baby cow’s stomach and I could go cry.”
The post did spark something as many accounts responded either in shock at the discovery or in frustration that people were not aware of what they were eating. One X user said: “Horrifying! Why are we eating baby anything as a species.” A second chimed saying: “Wow, I had never heard that! Dairy is scary for real.” A third added: “Bruh Parmesan cheese is straight evil. They take stomachs of young calves after slaughter and harvest the rennet needed to make parmesan.”
Some even said the information has convinced them to cut out the cheese from their diet altogether with one person saying: “That’s really gross. I don’t want another cheese in my life”. Another added: “I did not know. This makes me very sad. I like Parmesan but don’t think I can ever eat it again.”
Many however did note that a lot of parmesan brands now use artificial rennet rather than the real thing. One highlighted: “Rennet doesn’t have to be from animal sources, there are vegetarian variants that work the same. But it’s true that you’ll have to check for this to be able to say it’s actually vegetarian.”
Parmesan is actually a protected cheese and under Italian and European law the name is a protected designation of origin. Only the following Italian provinces can create parmesan under “Parmigiano-Reggiano”: Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Mantua, Modena, or Parma. If you buy Parmigiano-Reggiano, then this is highly regulated and must be made under strict guidelines – including using calf rennet. However, other parmesans can be made without stringent regulations and may not contain calf rennet, although you’ll have to closely check the packaging to make sure the cheese you’re buying is vegetarian or contains “microbial rennet”.
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