The New Zealand dairy industry, the largest exporter of milk products in the world, has just come up with a new product. Kosher cheese. And while at present the cheese is being sold only to members of the New Zealand. Jewish community, it may one day be available for export.
Normally, the cheese making process involves the use of rennet, a substance taken from the stomachs of calves. In New Zealand, the calves used for this purpose are not killed according to Jewish law. For this, reason New Zealand Jews have, until now, been unable to eat locally-produced cheese.
However, science, in the form of Rennilase, a milk clotting enzyme of vegetable origin, has come to the rescue and the problem has been overcome.
The manufacture of the Kosher cheese is strictly supervised by a Rabbi, who feels satisfied that the equipment used is free from any trace of calf rennet. Once made, the cheese is stamped with the Rabbi’s seal and then left to mature until ready for consumption.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
