The following message was received from https://nourishfoodclub.com/, where traditionally made cheese can be purchased:

Cheese intolerance and indigestion are at an all-time high.

In fact...

Nearly 7 out of 10 adults worldwide can’t fully digest modern dairy. Yet for thousands of years, cheese was one of the most digestible, nourishing, and reliable foods.

So the question today:

Is it really the cheese, or is it what we’ve done to it?

For over 7,000 years, humans have been making and enjoying cheese.(ref)

And more than just food... it was a way to preserve milk, provide nutrient-dense calories, and fuel explorers who carried it on long journeys. Cheese quite literally shaped communities and human history.

So what changed?

Traditionally, cheese was simple: just milk, salt, culture, and animal rennet. That last ingredient, rennet, comes from the stomach ruminant animals and is what transforms milk into curds and whey. This process gave us cheese that was flavorful, digestible, and natural.

But in the 1990s, the U.S. cheese industry shifted. Instead of animal rennet, most cheesemakers started using something called FPC: a lab-made, genetically engineered enzyme produced by Pfizer.

Today, about 90% of cheese in the U.S. is made with it. It’s cheaper, faster, and efficient. But it’s also very different, and comes with some concerns.

FPC is produced using genetically modified organisms (GMOs), though you’ll never see it labeled that way. For some people, this can make cheese harder to tolerate: not because of lactose or dairy itself, but because of how the rennet is made.

There are two main concerns:

Potential toxins: Since FPC is created by culturing molds or fungi in a lab, trace byproducts from the host organism may remain in the final enzyme solution.

Digestive and allergy-like reactions: These structural differences and trace byproducts in the proteins can make cheese more likely to act as an allergen for some people, leading to symptoms like stomach upset, congestion, or respiratory irritation.

This may explain why many people believe they “can’t digest cheese” anymore.

It may not be the cheese itself… it might be the modern shortcut.