Is whey vegetarian or not?

speedy2007

im a little confused about it. Ive heard it can be from rennet which of course is not vegetarian.
But there's a brand of yoghurt i eat and i recently discovered it had whey in it - i emailed the manufacturer to see if it was suitable for vegetarians and they said yes

so when is it vegetarian and when isnt it? How can you tell?
I was also looking to get one of those protein shakes cos i plan on doing a low carb diet soon - but they usually contain whey. Anyone know if theyre they suitable or not?

thanks

mathepac

If you already eat yogurt, unless it's made from soya milk or other non-dairy source, I wouldn't get hung up on the fact that it contains whey. Whey is the liquid left over after dairy milk has been curdled and and the solids (curds) strained off in order to make cheese or other dairy products.

sweet-rasmus

I think whey is vegetarian, as the above poster said. But I see what you mean; rennet (which is usually not vegetarian) is added to curdle the milk, which is then divided into the curds and whey.

I'm sure not all yoghurt contains whey, so shop around if you want to avoid it. I do however think whey is a big component of protein shakes. Some of our other posters may be able to help you with that.

spiralbound

There is a vegetarian 'rennet' which is used to make vegetarian cheese - maybe they use whey produced from this type of rennet?

What is the brand of yoghurt? Did you ask them specifically about the rennet they used to get the whey?

Tar.Aldarion

There is vegetarian and non vegetarian whey, best to ask the company I guess.