CHEESE RENNET

INGREDIENTS

Annatto Extract: A natural, vegetable dye from a tropical tree, gives yellow to pink color. It is used in dairy products, cheese, ice creams, baked goods, margarine, and cereals. It is also used to color some meat product casings as bologna and frankfurters. Annatto is produced from the reddish pulp which surrounds the seed of the achiote (Bixa orellana L.). Annatto is commonly found in Latin America and Caribbean cuisines as both a coloring agent and for flavoring. Central and South American natives use the seeds to make a body paint, and lipstick. For this reason, the achiote is sometimes called the lipstick-tree. It was probably not initially used as a food additive but for other reasons, such as body painting, to ward off evil, and as an insect repellent. In the United States, annatto extract is listed as a color additive “exempt from certification” and is commonly considered to be a natural color. Annatto has been linked with many cases of food-related allergies, and is the only natural food coloring believed to cause as many allergic-type reactions as artificial food coloring. Because it is a natural colorant, companies using annatto may label their products "all natural" or "no artificial colors". However, consumers with food dye sensitivity or intolerance may wish to avoid products containing annatto.
Processing:Fruits are dried and seeds extracted from them are crushed. The seeds have a coating of an oily paste that contains bixin. Bixin is a yellow orange carotenoid. It is extracted using aqueous alkaline solution and vegetable oil solvent.

Oleoresin: A natural plant product consisting of essential oil and resin extracted from a substance, such as ginger, by means of alcohol, ether, or acetone. Certain spices are extracted as oleoresins for color rather than for flavor. Such as paprika oleoresin and turmeric oleoresin.

Lard and Lard Oils: Pork fat and oils. It is the purified internal fat from the abdomen of a hog. It is used in packaging and in chewing gum bases. Easily absorbed by skin and it is used as a lubricant, emollient, and base in shaving creams, soaps, and various cosmetic creams. When lard was fed to laboratory animals in doses of from 2 to 25 percent of the diet, the male mice had a shortened life span and increased osteoarthritis. It is GRAS, generally recognized as safe, by FDA.

INGREDIENTS

Here are some common ingredients and their descriptions:

ACETIC ACID: Occurs naturally in most fruits and vegetables. It is used in cheese, baked goods, and animal feeds. Solvent for gums, resins, and volatile oils. Potential adverse skin reactions include irritation or itching, hives, and overgrowth of organisms that do not respond to germ killers. It may cause gastrointestinal distress, skin and eye irritation. In its glacial form (w/o much water) it is highly corrosive and its vapors are capable of producing lung obstruction. It caused cancer in rats and mice when given orally or by injection. It is GRAS- Generally Recognized As Safe by the FDA but caution is advised. The additive may be unsafe, poorly tested, or used in foods we eat too much of.

MALT EXTRACT: Extracted from barley that has been allowed to germinate, then heated to destroy vitality, and dried. I tbs contains 6 grams of sugar. The extract is mixed with water and allowed to solidify. It is used as a nutrient and as a texturizer in cured meat and poultry. Generally Recognized As Safe.

LEMON EXTRACT: It is made from lemon zest extracted from alcohol. Used in perfumes and food flavorings.It can cause an allergic reaction and has been suspected of being a co-additive cause of cancer.

INGREDIENTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

In compliance with FDA regulations, "processing aid" ingredients or additives less than 2% are not required to be listed in nutrition labels. Are you curious about what you eat everyday? What direct/indirect additives are in your food? In compliance with Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) regulations, "process­ing aid" ingredients or additives less than 2% of the product volume are not required to be listed in nutrition labels. Also, ingredients of a product are subject to formula changes on a regular basis and lists can become outdated very quickly. To the Halal-conscious con­sumer, this means food manufacturing com­panies should be contacted regularly to verify their product ingredients. Here are some com­mon ingredients used in most of the food products and their possible sources.

Alcohol: Ethyl alcohol is used as an ingredient in a food product or as part of an ingredient such as wine in Dijon Mustard or in some Italian salad dress­ings and soy sauce and is usually labeled as nat­ural flavor. It is extensively used as a flavor car­rier in many food products and juices and not necessarily labeled as ethyl alcohol.
Whey: A watery part of the milk, milk serum, and it is the liquid that remains after the curd and the cream are removed from the coagulation of the casein of milk. Curdling of milk for cheese preparation takes place with the use of the enzyme rennet. As for the cheese, the enzyme "rennet" used to produce the cheese may be from animal origin and from pig source.
MSG:Monosodium Glutamate: Also called Chinese seasoning. It is used to impart meat flavor to enhance other natural food flavos and to improve the taste of tobacco. It is produced from vegetable sources. Studies show that gluta­mate in the body plays an important role in nor­mal functioning of the nervous system. It is believed to cause brain damage in some lab ani­mals. It is reported that many people suffer from headache and chest pain after eating in Chinese restaurants that MSG is commonly used in most of the Chinese food. Another study showed that females had fewer pregnancies and males had reduced fertility when treated with MSG. FDA recognizes MSG as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) for most of the food products except for baby foods.
Lecithin: Lecithin is the commercial name given to a mix­ture of phospholipids which occur naturally in a wide variety of animal and vegetable products, including egg yolks, butter, and in vegetable seed oils such as wheat, rape, sunflower and soy. Although the first egg lecithin was designed in 1896 as an emulsifier found in margarine soy bean is now the primary source of lecithin, which remains one of the most versatile ingredients available in the market today. Soy lecithin was developed as an application in a wider range of products, including chocolate, confectionery, bakery, dairy and most low-fat products. The sol­vent of choice for oil extraction is hexane for most of the manufacturers. In some cases, such as frac­tioned lecithin in pharmaceutical applications, alcohol may be used in the processing.
Glycerin:Glycerol: It is a clear, colorless, sweetish and viscous liquid obtained from the hydrolysis of fats and oils. It is used in cosmetics, liquid soaps, detergents and confectioneries. It can be obtained from animal source (beef or pork, hides or bones) or prepared synthetically.