Tillamook’s Halal Cheese Label Sparks Backlash, but There’s More to the Story
A debate that has sparked boycott calls in some conservative circles over a “halal” label on Tillamook cheese involves a practice the company says dates back a decade—and an ingredient that also meets kosher standards for Jewish consumers.
The uproar began when videos and images of Tillamook cheese bearing a “halal certified” label circulated on social media, leading some conservative commentators to call for a boycott and question why the Oregon-based dairy company was producing cheese that meets Islamic dietary standards.
“One of America’s top-selling cheeses just went Islamic,” says a male voice in a viral video that shows a block of Tillamook cheese with a “certified halal” label on the back.
Halal is an Arabic word meaning “permitted” or “lawful” and indicates that a product meets Islamic dietary requirements. It is somewhat comparable to kosher certification in Judaism.
It isn’t clear when Tillamook placed the “halal certified” label on its products, although it dates back to at least 2022, as the company acknowledged that year in a Q&A with Target customers on the store’s website.
Tillamook says on its website that it changed the type of rennet used in its cheesemaking process in 2016 — a switch that made the ingredient both kosher and halal certified. The company made the switch from a traditional, bovine rennet to a fermentation-produced rennet in order to “minimize the risk of a bitter flavor,” it says on its website.
“Since 2016, we have utilized fermentation-produced rennet that has Kosher and Halal certification and is vegetarian,” the company website says. “We believe it closely mimics the flavor and quality profiles of a traditional bovine rennet.”
The company even sells a kosher cheese for the Jewish community that says “Kosher Medium Cheddar Cheese” on the package, complete with a Kosher label.
“It’s produced and packaged under official rabbinical guidance,” the company says on its website.
Conservative Dana Loesch, host of "The Dana Show," said she will continue eating Tillamook cheese. Her family cooks often and has long been a fan of the company’s products, she said.
“I dislike Islamism more than you ever could possibly imagine … but this isn't new,” she said of the halal label. “This has been on there for years. It's not like they're doing some sort of special Muslim ceremony.”
The 2016 tweak in cheese production, she added, “serves multiple dietary markets.”
Photo Credit: ©Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published September 23, 2026.
