I copied this from an email I received from off grid with Doug and Stacy. It’s about what they’re putting in the chees now.⬇️
Animal rennet has been the predominant type of rennet used in cheesemaking for centuries and is still commonly used today, also labeled as "enzymes". But because this type of rennet is costly and frequently not available at times, cheesemakers have also turned to vegetable rennet. (That is the lame excuse to partner with the lab buddies to pollute what we have used for centuries) Derived from plants like thistle, nettle, artichokes, figs, and dried caper leaves, vegetable rennet has the same coagulating property as animal rennet. It also has the added benefit of being acceptable to vegetarians, enabling cheesemakers to make true vegetarian cheese.
True vegetable rennet is derived from plants that possess coagulation enzymes. These plant extracts have been used as milk coagulants since ancient times. Some examples include cardoon thistle, fig tree bark or nettles.
However, it is well known in the cheese industry that vegetable rennet can negatively impact the final texture and flavor of the cheese. “Most plant-derived [enzymes] typically exhibit low MCA/PA [milk clotting activity/proteolytic activity] ratios resulting in poor cheese yield and formation of bitter substances during cheese ripening … Therefore, most of them are not suitable for cheese production.” This is why most of the cheese with the label “vegetable rennet” isn’t real vegetable rennet. It’s either microbial rennet (made from mold) or FPC (the GMO version) since there is no regulation on the terms used for what rennet is used in cheese labeling.
Additional forms of rennet include microbial Rennet, which is made from yeast, fungi, and mold and is also considered vegetarian. And genetically modified rennet is made in a lab by inserting the DNA of ruminant animals into yeast which then takes on the same coagulating ability.
Microbial rennet — Another alternative to animal rennet is “microbial rennet,” where the coagulating enzymes are produced by a specific type of mold, fungus or yeast organism grown and fermented in a lab setting (often fed soy). Yum. So while the microorganisms aren’t genetically modified, their food source likely is. Soy is one of the most GMO and sprayed crops
There is another type of Rennet
Genetically modified FPC — To overcome some of the shortcomings of the vegetable and microbial rennets like the potential bitter cheese taste, scientists have leveraged genetic engineering technology to create new, genetically modified species that generate these milk-curdling enzymes.
Introducing the most common alternative to animal rennet in cheese making — FPC. (Chymosin refers to the enzyme that curdles milk, and is naturally present in the stomach lining of ruminant animals).
In fact, 90% of the cheese manufactured in the U.S. uses these enzymes from GMOs.
FPC was created by the one and only Pfizer (biotech company) and is made possible by using CRISPR gene editing technology where the genomes of living organisms are modified. The “safety” of FPC was evaluated by a 90-day trial in rats.
