The official Nutella website broke my heart this morning:
“Is nutella suitable for vegetarians ?
nutella is not suitable for vegetarians as it contains whey powder, which is made with rennet from an animal source. Whey powder is used in nutella because it gives the product a smooth, pleasant feel on the palate. Although we are always looking at ways of innovating and improving, the unique quality of nutella must always come first.”
um…
“The unique quality of nutella must always come first”
Oh god. Want to know what rennet is?
Natural calf rennet is extracted from the inner mucosa of the fourth stomach chamber (the abomasum) of slaughtered young, unweaned calves. These stomachs are a by-product of veal production. If rennet is extracted from older calves (grass-fed or grain-fed) the rennet contains less or no chymosin but a high level of pepsin and can only be used for special types of milk and cheeses. As each ruminant produces a special kind of rennet to digest the milk of its own species, there are milk-specific rennets available, such as kid goat rennet for goat’s milk and lamb rennet for sheep’s milk.
I FEEL SICK. Like I might actually throw up.
I did find this vegan recipe though.
