I am astounded by the level of ignorance of the people described in this report on the Nottingham Post.

People are claiming that they feel "'violated' after they learn what Parmesan is made of". Their issue is the use of rennet to make cheese. Rennet is a cocktail of enzymes found in the stomachs of young animals (calves, lambs, goats etc.), which digests components of milk. Rennet is a byproduct of slaughtering animals for meat. How on earth did they not know this basic fact about food production?

Just to be clear, rennet is used in the production of almost all cheeses, not only Parmesan. There are vegetarian rennet substitutes, which are used in cheese manufacture, although these vegetarian cheeses are hard to find and usually more expensive.

The reason that I am so shocked by this ignorance is that, in my experience, vegetarians and vegans are usually eager to tell us meat eaters how unhealthy our diets are, quoting research and nutritional guides about risks from cholesterol and preservatives, as well as the arguments about cruelty to animals. How is it that they can devote so much time and effort to researching such matters, and miss the facts about rennet?

The discovery of rennet, and the invention of cheese in all its glorious forms, were major milestones in human nutrition. The majority of the world's adult population cannot digest milk (animals, including most humans, stop producing rennet once weaned). Cheese is digestible since rennet is used in its creation, so people who can't drink milk can eat cheese. Cheese making thus added a valuable source of nutrition, which would have otherwise gone to waste, to people's diets. Cheese also has the advantage of keeping much longer than unprocessed milk.

I feel that some people need to open their eyes and see the world, especially in the age of the Internet, with virtually all of human knowledge available online to everyone. In this day and age, ignorance can only be the result of stupidity and/or laziness.

I am a total cheese addict, and I make no apologies for eating a product that utilises a byproduct of meat production.