Rennet from Bacillus cereus
Acid protease from Bacillus cereus · Milk-clotting enzyme · Rennet from Bacillus cereusA milk-clotting preparation from Bacillus cereus, used in cheesemaking in place of animal rennet.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Canada | No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here. | ||
| European Union | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Great Britain | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance. | ||
| United States | Permitted, with conditions | Named in 21 CFR 173.150(a)(2): milk-clotting enzyme derived by a pure-culture fermentation process from Bacillus cereus may be safely used in the production of cheese, in an amount …Named in 21 CFR 173.150(a)(2): milk-clotting enzyme derived by a pure-culture fermentation process from Bacillus cereus may be safely used in the production of cheese, in an amount not in excess of the minimum required, for the cheeses that standards of identity permit it in. The section is held on this site as the page milk-clotting-enzymes-microbial; read it for the conditions. | 21 CFR 173.150retrieved 2026-10-18 |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
How much is permitted
A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.
| United States | — | 1 no quantity stated |
|---|
No regulator sets a figure for Rennet from Bacillus cereus. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.
What it is made from
Produced by fermenting Bacillus cereus and recovering the enzyme as an off-white to tan powder or liquid.
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
Rennet from Bacillus cereus
Synonyms: Acid protease from Bacillus cereus , milk clotting enzyme Acid protease from Bacillus cereus; Milk-clotting enzyme
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 28th JECFA (1984), published in FNP 31/2 (1984) and in FNP 52 (1992). No ADI was allocated at the 15th JECFA (1971)
- SOURCES
- Produced by the controlled fermentation of Bacillus cereus .
- Active principles
- Microbial aspartic proteinase (acid proteinase, acid carboxyl proteinase)
- Systematic names and numbers
- None (EC 3.4.23.6)
- Reactions catalyzed
- The enzyme preparations hydrolyze polypeptides (casein) yielding peptides of lower molecular weight. It clots milk.
- DESCRIPTION
- Off-white to tan amorphous powder or liquid; soluble in water and practically insoluble in ethanol, chloroform and ether
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Enzyme preparation Used in the preparation of cheese
- GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Must conform to the General Specifications for Enzyme Preparations used in Food Processing (see Volume Introduction)
Identification
- Acid proteinase activity (Vol.4)
- The sample shows milk clotting activity
Every name it appears under
3 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
Other names
- Acid protease from Bacillus cereus
- Milk-clotting enzyme
- Rennet from Bacillus cereus
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Common questions
Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.
- What is Rennet from Bacillus cereus?
- A milk-clotting preparation from Bacillus cereus, used in cheesemaking in place of animal rennet.
- Is Rennet from Bacillus cereus banned in Europe?
- No. Rennet from Bacillus cereus does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
- Where is Rennet from Bacillus cereus permitted?
- Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
Sources for this page
- us-listings retrieved 2026-10-18
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
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