What is nutritional yeast, anyway?[/caption]
In Portland, you can find nutritional yeast flakes (aka vegetarian food yeast) at almost every restaurant catering to a vegetarian clientele. They're a funky orange-yellow color and can range from a fine powder to larger flakes. Nutritional yeast smells a bit yeasty, a bit nutty, and a bit cheesy, but what's the deal? What is this funky "hippie dust"? (Truly, I have seen it called that before.)
Nutritional yeast, which is not to be confused with Active Dry Yeast or Brewer's Yeast, is a deactivated form of the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast is pasteurized and placed in a dryer to deactivate the yeast and bring out its nutritional properties. The yeast, which is gluten free, has a flavor reminiscent of cheese and is rich in amino acids, B-complex vitamins, niacin, folic acid, zinc, selenium, and thiamine. Bob's Red Mill's nutritional yeast has been fortified with vitamin B-12, as well. Nutritional yeast is popular with vegetarians and vegans whose diets can be deplete of B-complex vitamins, especially B-12.
Nutritional yeast won't make your bread rise or your beer ferment, but it is excellent sprinkled over popcorn and pizza. It can be added to breading for tofu or meat to increase the flavor and nutritional value of the food. The yeast is also a wonderful addition to gravies and sauces or used to create a non-dairy "cheese" sauce for those who are vegan or who cannot tolerate dairy.
Here are some great recipes for turning this funky dust into something delicious and nutritious!
Nutritional Yeast Cheese Sauce from Bob's Red Mill
The Best Cheesy Uncheese Sauce from Karina's Kitchen (gluten free)
Hemp Burgers from Bob's Red Mill
Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (in the world) from VegWeb.com
Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese from Flavor Vegan 
Nutritional Yeast Demystified
[caption id="attachment_1163557" align="alignleft" width="234"]
What is nutritional yeast, anyway?[/caption]
In Portland, you can find nutritional yeast flakes (aka vegetarian food yeast) at almost every restaurant catering to a vegetarian clientele. They're a funky orange-yellow color and can range from a fine powder to larger flakes. Nutritional yeast smells a bit yeasty, a bit nutty, and a bit cheesy, but what's the deal? What is this funky "hippie dust"? (Truly, I have seen it called that before.)
Nutritional yeast, which is not to be confused with Active Dry Yeast or Brewer's Yeast, is a deactivated form of the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast is pasteurized and placed in a dryer to deactivate the yeast and bring out its nutritional properties. The yeast, which is gluten free, has a flavor reminiscent of cheese and is rich in amino acids, B-complex vitamins, niacin, folic acid, zinc, selenium, and thiamine. Bob's Red Mill's nutritional yeast has been fortified with vitamin B-12, as well. Nutritional yeast is popular with vegetarians and vegans whose diets can be deplete of B-complex vitamins, especially B-12.
Nutritional yeast won't make your bread rise or your beer ferment, but it is excellent sprinkled over popcorn and pizza. It can be added to breading for tofu or meat to increase the flavor and nutritional value of the food. The yeast is also a wonderful addition to gravies and sauces or used to create a non-dairy "cheese" sauce for those who are vegan or who cannot tolerate dairy.
Here are some great recipes for turning this funky dust into something delicious and nutritious!
Nutritional Yeast Cheese Sauce from Bob's Red Mill
The Best Cheesy Uncheese Sauce from Karina's Kitchen (gluten free)
Hemp Burgers from Bob's Red Mill
Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (in the world) from VegWeb.com
Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese from Flavor Vegan
What is nutritional yeast, anyway?[/caption]
In Portland, you can find nutritional yeast flakes (aka vegetarian food yeast) at almost every restaurant catering to a vegetarian clientele. They're a funky orange-yellow color and can range from a fine powder to larger flakes. Nutritional yeast smells a bit yeasty, a bit nutty, and a bit cheesy, but what's the deal? What is this funky "hippie dust"? (Truly, I have seen it called that before.)
Nutritional yeast, which is not to be confused with Active Dry Yeast or Brewer's Yeast, is a deactivated form of the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast is pasteurized and placed in a dryer to deactivate the yeast and bring out its nutritional properties. The yeast, which is gluten free, has a flavor reminiscent of cheese and is rich in amino acids, B-complex vitamins, niacin, folic acid, zinc, selenium, and thiamine. Bob's Red Mill's nutritional yeast has been fortified with vitamin B-12, as well. Nutritional yeast is popular with vegetarians and vegans whose diets can be deplete of B-complex vitamins, especially B-12.
Nutritional yeast won't make your bread rise or your beer ferment, but it is excellent sprinkled over popcorn and pizza. It can be added to breading for tofu or meat to increase the flavor and nutritional value of the food. The yeast is also a wonderful addition to gravies and sauces or used to create a non-dairy "cheese" sauce for those who are vegan or who cannot tolerate dairy.
Here are some great recipes for turning this funky dust into something delicious and nutritious!
Nutritional Yeast Cheese Sauce from Bob's Red Mill
The Best Cheesy Uncheese Sauce from Karina's Kitchen (gluten free)
Hemp Burgers from Bob's Red Mill
Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (in the world) from VegWeb.com
Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese from Flavor Vegan 
I hope you are doing well. :) I am wondering how your yeast is dried. At what temperature? Thanks so much for your reply.
Our Nutritional Yeast is processed at temperatures above 212°F. The Nutritional Yeast is pasteurized and placed in a drum dryer to de-activate the yeast to get the nutritional properties. For more info, please contact our customer service team at 800-349-2173.
Yes, our nutritional yeast is potato free. We do package potato flour and potato starch in our gluten free facility, but we clean the lines well between each run. Please contact our amazing customer service staff for more info: 800-349-2173
Our Nutritional Yeast is not derived from corn or gluten.
Thanks
We don't have any peanuts in our facility, so there is no risk of cross contact with them. We do produce products that contain hazelnuts and almonds in our gluten free facility. All lines are cleaned between production runs and we follow Good Manufacturing Processes to prevent cross contact between allergens. For more information about our allergen policies, please contact our customer service team at 800-349-2173.
Can you explain how I can make this at home? I live in a Developing country (Thailand) and Veganism is only just developing (despite its Buddhist religion) and importing it is beyond financial possibilities for Thai people.
I don't believe you can make this at home. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
My husband and I have changed our diet because he has prostate
cancer, and we know that what he eats can make a difference in the
progression of the disease. I would like to use nutritional yeast in lieu of cheese, but I read that high levels of folic acid can speed up the growth of cancer cells. Can you please tell me the amount of
folic acid present in Bob's yeast? Thanks.
It looks like a 1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast contains 444mcg of Folic Acid. Honestly don't know if that's a lot or not, but you might look into other cheese alternatives like Daiya shreds if Nutritional Yeast is out.
I was wondering if there's any soy,,gluten, or seseme in this product?
Thanks
Angela
We do produce this product in our gluten free facility, which also processes items containing soy and sesame. The product does not contain gluten, soy or sesame and is tested to be sure that it does not contain gluten. We use good manufacturing practices to ensure that lines are cleaned between runs and reduce the chance of any cross contact between these allergens. I hope this helps. For more info, please call our customer service team at 800-349-2173.
Thanks!
This is how it is made by our supplier. I'm not sure why they choose such a high temperature. Please contact customer service for more info at 800-349-2173
Thank you Bob's Red Mill for pasteurizing this product and making it safe. :)
Please contact customer service for information about MSG being in our Nutritional Yeast. They can be reached at 800-349-2173. My guess is that if it is present, it is naturally occurring, but I am not sure.
Nutritional yeast is safe for those with celiac disease, but I am not sure about yeast allergies. Nutritional yeast is not live like conventional baking yeast, but you should probably talk to your doctor about it before trying it.
I am wondering if when beginning to eat nutritional yeast I should start slowly? I have only been sprinkling tiny amounts of my food but notice that I am having very bad gastrointestinal upset and light headedness. I know that the B vitamins incorporated into the yeast are water soluble so I do not believe I am having a reaction to any type of overdose, nor do I believe I have eaten enough to overdose. Is this a common reaction? Thanks!
Thank you.
I am so sorry, but I do not know the definitive answer to this. It does not contain any sugar and I would imagine that it does not have glucose, but I can't say for sure. I honestly can't find any sources that indicate that it would have any glucose, so I would imagine you're safe here.
My wife and I are moving toward a vegan lifestyle and we have only tried nutritional yeast on nachos which we had at a vegan restaurant. What is the difference between the powder form and the flakes? I've read all the comments on this page and I'm not certain why you would use one over the other.
Thanks!
Keith G.
Paso Robles, Ca
The difference is just the size of the particles. The nutritional yeast that we sell has larger flakes. Either size (powder or flake) works well to make a cheese sauce. There are many recipes, the one we use at home is similar to this: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/08/18/quick-dirty-5-ingredient-vegan-cheeze-sauce-recipe-challenge/
Can you tell me how much Vitamin B12 there is in a serving of your nutritional yeast. I dont see that on the label. Thanks so much,
I live in a country where we are lucky to have running water for more than two hours a day and any bread be it wheat kamut or rye is treated as a blessing since more often than not it isn't available. Everyone eats and with thanks.
What a silly strange world you people have created for yourselves in the US. I am so glad for Bob's products being distributed in my country.
See of nutritional yeast were the only source of folic acid one was taking then perhaps i could see eating it but it is not.....
check your multiple vitamin and see....now how many of you are taking a multiple that has folic acid and not folate in it.......
if you are really health conscious you would not make excuses for synthetic foods and at the same time have much gratitude..
with the little bit of money i have i buy only nutritional food....and if Bod's yeast has folic acid which is linked to breast cancer in it i will not use my little bit of food money to poison myself.....
Pasteurization process applies a lot of heat(above 200F) which DAMAGES all B vitamins...
I just don't understand...
is the protein lost?
That is a great question and not one that we're able to answer. I'm so sorry that we can't be of further assistance. I'd imagine that something is probably lost, but I can't be sure.
Can you give me any feedback on this?
Why could you not answer this question? Is it possible you did not want the answer published where everyone could see it?
I did not answer that question because I do not have an answer readily available. Since the last time it was asked, I have received the answer that our nutritional yeast does contain naturally occurring MSG (glutamic acid), but does not have the added MSG that is so concerning.
-Does this product contain 'processed free glutamic acid'?
(Consumers refer to this as 'MSG'.)
-Does the 'processed free glutamic acid' occur as a result of the processing of the yeast? Can you explain how?
-What is the percentage of 'processed free glutamic acid' in your product?
-How much 'processed free glutamic acid' would I ingest if I ate 2 TBS of your nutritional yeast?
Thank you.
I made an AIP pizza recipe that required 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast in the tapioca flour crust. When I make the pizza I have 2 slices a day for my lunch until it is gone. I have been noticing that I am extremely dizzy, like a permanent vertigo feeling. Also, nausea and bloating. I also had a very bad migraine on the left side of my temple area. I have never had this kind of migraine before. The only thing I have changed in my diet is the nutritional yeast. I am wondering if there is something in it that is causing this to happen to me. I did a search online and saw that this is a common thing to happen to people after having it. What is it in the product that causes these things to happen? Is it not safe? Thanks.
Answer truthfully if you can.
I love the flavor of your nutritional yeast but I wish you would take out the synthetic vitamins, especially the folic acid. Please consider doing this. Thanks.
What kind of B12 is used. Methyl, cyano, hydroxo, or adeno?
Thanks,