KRAFT Parmesan Cheese

UPDATE

I heard back from KRAFT and here is their response:

Thank you for visiting http://www.kraftcanada.com.

Most of our Kraft cheeses marketed in Canada, with the exception of our imported Brie, Blue and Camembert cheeses marked "Product of Denmark," do not use animal-based rennet.  They use a microbial enzyme.

Kraft imported Danish cheeses may use either calf rennet or a microbial enzyme, and are identified by their "Product of Denmark" label and "pie slice" shape.

If the word "lipase" appear in the ingredient line of a Kraft product then it will be of animal origin.

Thank you for contacting us and please add our site to your favourites and visit us again soon!

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations

So KRAFT Parmesan Cheese is not Halal due to lipase.  I have seen some fresh Parmesan cheese that does not have lipase in the ingredients.  But make sure you email the company to confirm if it conforms to Halal Standards.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I recently ran out of Parmesan cheese so this week when I was grocery shopping I was looking to buy some more.  I had previously seen KRAFT Parmesan Cheese at the formerly Zum Zum Halal Meat Store.  I picked it up to purchase it but I was having reservations....was this really Halal?  I put it back on the shelf and when I got home started to do some research.  A while ago I came across this post at SunniPath.com: Is Cheese Halal or Haram?

So I felt comfortable about the Rennet (although in KRAFT Parmesan they use Microbial Enzymes which is fine).  But there was another ingredient called Lipase which I wasn't sure of.  So when I got home I searched what this is.  Turns out this is an enzyme.  All my searching has shown that Lipase should be from an animal that is zabiha to make the cheese halal.  I have emailed KRAFT to ask about their source of Lipase but have not heard back from them.  I will post an update when I hear from them.  So far now I am staying away from KRAFT Parmesan...If anyone has any insights on this please post a comment and let me know.