Bought haram cheese from halal store that I didn’t know it was haram

Question

I bought cheese from a halal store in U.S, I added it in food but later I saw that contained enzymes.Then I googled it and it said it’s haram.Can I eat that food or waste it?

Answer 1

"Enzymes" are not haram in and of themselves. Common cheese enzymes are traditionally extracted from beef; some scholars only consider these acceptable if the cow was slaughtered Islamically (i.e. the stomach enzymes fall under the same ruling of the meat inre permissibility), while others don't consider dhabihah rulings to apply since there is no flowing blood involved when extracting them, and they would always be considered halal. The same would apply for enzymes extracted from any other permissible animal.

That said, enzymes can also be extracted from pork, which falls under the general rulings of pork (i.e. haram) and I don't know of any disagreement on that matter. They can also be extracted from bacterial or vegetable sources which would be considered halal in all circumstances and I don't know of any disagreement on that matter.

So the problem with having "enzymes" with no qualifier as an ingredient is that there is no way to be certain whether it is from an acceptable source or not without further investigation (i.e. contacting the company that produces the cheese and asking them). When in doubt, it's safer to avoid such products completely so as not to inadvertently consume haram.

However, you claim that you bought this product explicitly at a halal store; if you have no particular reason to doubt them, it's reasonable to assume that they have done the necessary investigation and ensured it came from a halal source before selling it.