Milk contains many components, one of which is a protein called casein. A glass of milk is about 3% casein. The cheese that we all familiar with is made from this casein.

 

There are two main types of cheese:

-        Enzyme-set cheese

-        Acid-set cheese

 

In enzyme-set cheese, an enzyme is mixed into the milk and that enzyme coagulates the casein into what we call "curds" (the hard, solid part). There remains a liquid part called "whey" that is separated and removed.

 

So the key to making cheese is using an enzyme. In the Gemara we've learnt that one of the enzymes used by non-Jews was the stomach lining of their animals, commonly called rennet.

 

Today we have access to many types of delicious cheeses such as American cheese, blue cheese, cheddar, feta, mozarella, parmesan and Swiss cheese. These are all examples of "hard" cheese that is made using the enzyme method. The gezeirah (decree) of gevinas akum clearly applies to these types of cheeses and therefore only Jewish-made varieties are kosher.

 

The problem is what do you do with acid-set cheeses? First of all, what do we mean by "acid-set" cheese? In reality milk contains a small quantity of acid. If you leave the milk to sit for a while, this acid will eventually cause the casein to coagulate. This all works without an enzyme. What you end up with is what we call "soft" cheese such as cottage cheese and cream cheese. Nowadays they use acid-based agents for this, but the result is the same.

 

So the question is, does "soft" cheese fall under the gezeirah of gevinas akum? One could argue that the gezeirah was only on cheese because they are maamid (stand) it with ohr keivas beheimah temeiah. But acid-set cheese, even in the times of the Gemara, would not have been made using rennet. Perhaps it never went into the gezeirah at all, which would mean that we could all consume non-Jewish-made soft cheese. Some infer from the specific language of the Shulchan Aruch that only cheese that is maamid falls under the gezeirah.

 

On the other hand, one could argue that anything that is regarded as "cheese" falls under the gezeirah, no matter what type. Some Acharonim, such as the Chochmas Adam and the Aruch HaShulchan maintain that all types of cheese are regarded as gevinas akum.

 

The shaila was asked to R' Moshe and can be found in his teshuvos in Yoreh Deah. In one teshuvah R' Moshe addresses cottage cheese and in another separate teshuvah he deals with cream cheese. While he does side with the more lenient opinion, in both teshuvos he ends by saying that it is better to be stringent and that he doesn't want to publicize his heter. However, he says that one shouldn't protest against those who are lenient.

 

Nowadays you can get soft cheeses, such as Philadelphia Cream Cheese, that is non-Jewish-made but has a hechsher. Given R' Moshe's reluctance to give a public heter for this cheese, who are they relying on? The answer is that they are relying on R' Yosef Henkin. R' Moshe and R' Henkin both came over from Russia and both were giants in halacha. However, not many people know about R' Henkin because of R' Moshe's overwhelming fame during the time. Regarding our topic, R' Henkin either agreed with R' Moshe's reasoning, or developed it on his own, but either way there is an oral tradition that he permitted soft cheese that was non-Jewish-made.

 

This soft cheese with a hechsher is made from cholov stam. Although there are arguments that even one who is makpid (particular) on cholov yisroel could consume soft cheese made from cholov stam, nonetheless the minhag is that those who are makpid on cholov yisroel are also makpid to only eat gevina that is made from cholov yisroel.