Doctor Warns Not to Buy Cheese Made in the US Because Of An Enzyme: 'You Don't Want That...'

Soft or hard, cheddar or gorgonzola, solid or melted, cheese just wants to be eaten. And if cheese could speak, it would say that it prefers to be eaten by humans rather than by fish or mice. Humans, on the other hand, are preoccupied with wars. Should they eat American cheese or European cheese? While European cheese is like a recipe handcrafted by grandma with love, American cheese is the one coming from a cookie-cutter-like processing machine where raw milk is blasted through a tirade of processes that turn it into the cheese people eat. Yet, this is not the only factor that determines which cheese is better for eating.

In a viral TikTok video, Doctor Daniel Pompa (@drpompa) shares his thoughts on cheesemakers of both countries as well as the best cheese to consume. According to him, people should stop buying cheese from the United States. Here’s why. “Stop buying cheese from the United States unless you know the local source,” Dr. Pompa told the viewers. As he said, the main reason for his concern is the sourcing of cheese in America. “90% of the cheese in the US uses a rennet,” he explained.

Rennet, according to The Spruce Eats, is “a substance used to break the solid particles in milk away from the water content in order to form a solid mass.” Rennet can come from the stomachs of young calves or from the enzymes of plants such as cardoon thistle, artichokes, and nettles. Despite the type of cheesemaking, both animal-based and plant-based cheeses are perfect in their own way, though plant-based cheeses have a slightly bitter flavor. In the video, the doctor reflected upon the fact that most of the cheesemaking companies in America use this rennet-making enzyme from genetically modified organisms.

“90% of the cheese manufactured in the US uses an enzyme from genetically modified organisms. You don't want that.” He added that many a time, the cheesemakers postulate that their cheese is made of vegetable rennet, but is this rennet authentic? “Well, most of the time, vegetable rennet is either made from a bacteria, microbial source, could even be from mold, another fungus, or most of the time it is from a genetically modified organism. So absolutely avoid it.” Alternatively, he suggested buying cheese from Italy. “Anything from Europe. They're still using the old-fashioned way, the animal source. So, avoid the vegetable source. If you don't know your source from the US, forget about it.” 

Tasting Table affirms Doctor Pompa’s advice. Both the European and American cheeses, they explain, are crafted from raw milk. However, each of these artisanal cheeses has different pricing dynamics as well as processing methods. Since European cheesemakers use labor-intensive, handcrafting processes to make the cheese, the pricing in Europe is considerably higher than in America, where cheeses are produced in quick, instant fashion. Another factor where American and European cheese differ is the terroir of “taste and texture.” While classic European cheese has a smooth, creamy texture, American cheese doesn’t have that level of meltability.

You can follow Doctor Daniel Pompa (@drpompa) on TikTok for tips and advice on how to heal yourself.