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For many cheese lovers, there’s nothing like some good parmesan. We enjoy it sliced or perhaps piled on top of a plate of spaghetti.

If your taste buds are now primed for some parmesan cheese, you may want to hold on to your seat. Knowing the truth about parmesan and how it’s made could just turn your stomach inside out.

Photo: Pexels/Klaus Nielsen

First of all, parmesan is made using dairy. Just like other cheeses, it contains milk from a mama animal that’s made for her baby.

According to Cello Cheese, in order to make parmesan, producers will use something known as animal rennet. According to Wisconsin Cheese, that enzyme is taken from the lining of an animal’s stomach, typically a lamb, goat, or calf.

Photo: Pexels/Polina Tankilevitch

Animals are typically killed to harvest the rennet. It is needed to make parmesan because it keeps solid particles in the milk from disconnecting from the water content. As a result, curds form, and it ends up making a solid mass.

For parmesan to carry the name, it has to contain salt, cow’s milk, and rennet.

TIL that Gorgonzola, Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano, Camembert, Vacherin, Emmenthaler, Mimolette, Boucheron, Gruyère, and Manchego traditionally use rennet, which means they’re not vegetarian products.
by u/gaop in Cheese

Other types of cheese are also made using rennet, including Gorgonzola, Gruyere, Manchego, Emmental, Pecorino Romano, Mimolette, Camembert, Boucheron, and Vacherin.

After being posted online, people quickly commented about their newfound knowledge. Many were saying that they were going to go vegan at this point.

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