I am a new vegetarian (Aug 06) but I still eat dairy (I believe that means I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, right?). Anyway, I just found this site and have been reading like crazy the last few days and noticed so many people saying bad things about whey. What exactly is whey? I just read the ingredient list for my granola cereal and noticed whey listed. Should I not be eating this? Thanks in advance!
What is whey?
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In the cheese making process milk is coagulated or curdled into curds and whey.
The curds are the lumpy chunks and are made into cheese.
The whey is the liquid that is left over.
Should you be eating it...well...I'll just bite my tongue on that one, mmmkay.
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The curds are the lumpy chunks and are made into cheese.
The whey is the liquid that is left over.
Should you be eating it...well...I'll just bite my tongue on that one, mmmkay.
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9,333 Posts
Whey is added to a lot of foods, making them unacceptable to vegans who do not eat any dairy. It's often added in miniscule amounts, making it all the more annoying and taking away a lot of otherwise perfectly good food options! If you are a lacto/ovo vegetarian then whey should not be a problem for you.
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It depends how they make the cheese. Not everyones as strict but personally unless something has 'vegetarian' stamped on it i presume the cheese was made using animal rennet so i dont eat it. but yeah they like to shove it in loads of random food which is annoying.
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Thanks for the replies everyone! One more dumb question, though. What is animal rennet? I swear, I feel so stupid reading this site when in fact I am a 4.0 college studentOriginally Posted by Pirate Ferret
It depends how they make the cheese. Not everyones as strict but personally unless something has 'vegetarian' stamped on it i presume the cheese was made using animal rennet so i dont eat it. but yeah they like to shove it in loads of random food which is annoying.
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"Rennet. Rennin.
Enzyme from calves' stomachs. Used in cheese-making, rennet custard (junket), and in many coagulated dairy products. Alternatives: microbial coagulating agents, bacteria culture, lemon juice, or vegetable rennet.*"
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=72
"Rennet (B): extract of calf stomach. Can also be derived from bacteria and fungus. Contains the enzyme renin which clots milk"
http://veganpeace.com/ingredients/ingredients.htm
And it's not like: "could you pass me that rennet, I'm gonna coagulate some mammary gland extract to make a whey protein shake" is something we hear in our every day lives.
By the 'whey' (bad joke, eye no), whey is also the lesser of the 2 proteins found in milk and it's a common protein supplement.
Those websites give the definitions of other common animal derived ingredients as well.
Enzyme from calves' stomachs. Used in cheese-making, rennet custard (junket), and in many coagulated dairy products. Alternatives: microbial coagulating agents, bacteria culture, lemon juice, or vegetable rennet.*"
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=72
"Rennet (B): extract of calf stomach. Can also be derived from bacteria and fungus. Contains the enzyme renin which clots milk"
http://veganpeace.com/ingredients/ingredients.htm
And it's not like: "could you pass me that rennet, I'm gonna coagulate some mammary gland extract to make a whey protein shake" is something we hear in our every day lives.
By the 'whey' (bad joke, eye no), whey is also the lesser of the 2 proteins found in milk and it's a common protein supplement.
Those websites give the definitions of other common animal derived ingredients as well.
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In order to turn milk to cheese you have to use something to coagulate the milk. Traditionally rennet was used. It is an enzyme from a calf's tummy used to thicken the milk. So cheese made this way--not suitable for vegetarians or vegans (called veg*ns here so you don't have to type both words) Now, rennet can either be made synthetically in a lab or from some sort of a vegetable plant source to do the same thickening. These cheeses will be labeled "suitable for vegetarian"--if there is no label then you won't really know if cow tummy or plant source was used to make that cheese.
Whey is added to loads of things because it is a by-product of the cheese making industry and they have to find somewhere to get of rid of it because unless they can find someplace to sell it they have to dump it. And I've heard that it is very damaging to streams and rivers in excess quantities. I will have ot find that research for you.
As for should you eat it?? Well.....................Being a vegetarian is a great start towards a compassionate lifestyle. However...you may find as you are on the forum there is more than meets the eye to the dairy and egg industry and change your mind about consuming them. You are on the right path. Keep researching and learning--that's how we all started out as well.
Whey is added to loads of things because it is a by-product of the cheese making industry and they have to find somewhere to get of rid of it because unless they can find someplace to sell it they have to dump it. And I've heard that it is very damaging to streams and rivers in excess quantities. I will have ot find that research for you.
As for should you eat it?? Well.....................Being a vegetarian is a great start towards a compassionate lifestyle. However...you may find as you are on the forum there is more than meets the eye to the dairy and egg industry and change your mind about consuming them. You are on the right path. Keep researching and learning--that's how we all started out as well.
Great answers above. For future reference, check out this list of animal ingredients. I used this list when I was a new vegetarian, because I wasn't sure of all the ingredients that come from animals directly - like gelatin. There are also dairy-related ingredients on this list, too.
http://www.caringconsumer.com/resour...ients_list.asp
http://www.caringconsumer.com/resour...ients_list.asp
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