Grocery

10 Popular Cheeses That Aren't Vegetarian-Friendly By Elizabeth Arnold June 7, 2025 3:40 pm EST

For vegetarians who love eating cheese, look closely at the packaging next time you're at the grocery store. You may be surprised to see that many types of cheese, including Swiss, cheddar, and brie, actually contain animal rennet, which is typically found in the stomach lining of dairy-consuming calves, young goats, and lambs. Rennet is produced in the animals before they're mature and while their diets consist mainly of milk. The chymosin enzyme found in animal rennet breaks down the protein in milk, causing coagulation to form the curds that become cheese.

The good news is that many cheesemakers produce vegetarian cheese using non-animal-based rennet found in plants such

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