Nutritional Yeast

In short, I designed an experiment comparing the taste of 4 different non-fortified nutritional yeast brands (standardized by weight, and emulsified in neutral oil & water to taste) and found that SariFoods was a fantastic tasting nutritional yeast and a very close runner-up to FoodsAlive (which was just slightly tastier). I highly recommend this brand! 1. Foods Alive (The Winner!) 2. SariFoods (a very close 2nd) 3. Dr. Berg (pretty good, although a bit less flavorful than the other 2) 4. NatureBell (terrible, tastes like paper) Background: I've used nutritional yeast in my recipes for years (there's a salad dressing you can make with it that’s surprisingly good). However, I have to make an extra effort to avoid nutritional yeast that’s fortified with synthetic B-vitamins. Using too much of the fortified kind reliably gives me unpleasant side effects like overstimulation, anxiety, sleeplessness, etc. So, SariFoods was my go-to brand for years. Their nutritional yeast tastes amazing and is emphatically non-fortified. Just straight nutritional yeast. Nothing else added. However, I was perusing Amazon one day and saw that Naturebell had a non-fortified nutritional yeast that was a lot cheaper per ounce. So I decided to give it a try. Huge mistake. I was shocked to find out that the taste between SariFoods' & Naturebell’s nutritional yeast was radically different. Like night and day. One of them (Naturebell’s) tasted like stale cardboard, while the other (SariFoods) had an insanely cheesy/nutty/umami flavor that was a potent flavor enhancer to every dish or sauce it was added to. Which led me to do this taste-test experiment comparing two more (4 total) non-fortified brands of nutritional yeast that you can find on Amazon. The Experiment: Each nutritional yeast was weighed out to approximately 3.5 grams*. Then I added 1/2th Tbsp of neutral oil & 1 Tbsp of warm water to each, and shook them vigorously to create an emulsion. (*I initially tried the experiment with equal volumes instead of equal weights until I realized that some of them are much denser than others. For example, on one extreme, FoodsAlive weighs ≈ 3.7 grams per 1/2th Tbsp, whereas Dr. Berg was only 2.2 grams per 1/2th Tbsp). Initial observations: Dr. Berg, FoodsAlive, and SariFoods had a more "natural"-looking, dark-beige color. Once emulsified, FoodsAlive revealed an even richer/darker color than the other two. NatureBell’s nutritional yeast, on the other hand, was much brighter & yellow in color. Dr. Berg’s was the flakiest (which explains why it weighed the least by volume) followed by NatureBell being the 2nd most flakey. FoodsAlive & SariFoods were more powdery & dense although they still had a general flakey-ness to them. Taste: In my opinion, FoodsAlive is the clear winner here. It was the most intensely flavorful and captured the essence of what I think nutritional yeast should taste like (cheesy, yeasty, slightly nutty, and undeniably umami). SariFoods was a very close second. Both FoodsAlive and SariFoods tasted the “cheesiest” in my opinion. Dr. Berg came in third. Nothing wrong with it. It was still pretty flavorful and tasty, just not as potent as the other two. NatureBell is the clear loser here, unfortunately. It tasted terrible like stale cardboard. I think something went wrong with their yeast growing operation. Or possibly they cut it with some cheap adulterant to save on costs. I don't know. But regardless of the reason, the flavor was simultaneously awful and bland. It had none of the complex cheesy/nutty/umami flavor that is recognizable as nutritional yeast to me. Also, I think it’s interesting to note the odd, vivid yellow color compared to the other three. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) has an intense orange-ish/yellow color. Often times, nutritional yeast that IS fortified with B-vitamins, is more bright & yellow because of the addition of synthetic riboflavin. I cannot say for certain whether or not NatureBell actually did fortify their nutritional yeast with synthetic riboflavin (it’s possible that the color is just naturally occurring), but I think it's something to note. Disclaimer: I do not work for, nor am I associated in any way with SariFoods, FoodsAlive, Dr. Berg, or NatureBell. This was an independent test that I performed in my spare time and the results are based on my own taste which is highly subjective. I highly recommend you repeat this test on your own to compare results. Also, this test is not comprehensive. There are several other brands of non-fortified nutritional yeast on Amazon that I did not test but would like to in the future (Anthony's, LOOV, and MicroIngredients to name a few other brands).

I've been buying this Sari Foods nooch for quite some time, in fact, since 2017. I tried many different brands that I just didn't care for and finally landed on this as my one and only. It has no weird aftertaste and the smell is not off-putting to me like some brands. The texture is not a fine powder but also not too flaky -- it's just that perfect middle ground. It's not fortified but that's my preference. It goes in almost every "cheese" sauce I make, in my chili, in soups/stews and it's the secret ingredient to making my tofu scrambles taste amazing. The only downside is that the price has doubled since I first purchased it, but then again, what hasn't. I highly recommend this product if you're looking for a great tasting, versatile nutritional yeast.

I love that this is non fortified. It tastes great!!!

When my wfpb recipes don’t work out, this purchase always helps . I’ll always have it in my refrig. I started my WFPB journey about 4 years ago and have seen a pretty remarkable change in my blood work, for the better. I had read “ how not to die” by Dr M Greger and I was convinced my highly processed, meat driven doctor was a cause of many of my issues. It took a good 1-2 months to stop craving certain foods but my health was improving and I was feeling better. I started experimenting with various products I had never tried before to help with my new way of cooking healthy. Dr Greger, who is def my hero, talked about nutritional yeast and its health benefits. He had suggested non- fortified. He never mentions which ones to try so I began my trial and error taste tests. Sari was my favorite and it’s a really clean product. Yes, I read in detail. I have no affiliation with any food product or company. I felt since it helped me stay plant based, bc my food tastes better, I wanted to give it a shout out. I use it mostly my stir fries, but also in my breakfast tofu eggs( not eggs), and on popcorn, even soups. It adds a cheese like flavor. It very low salt which is really impt to me. Other than cocoa powder, it’s my top favorite plant based additions to keep me plant based for life. So, so worth it.

This stuff tastes great, rich and savory, and is a super healthy food. It's definitely a premium product in that it is a NON-fortified nutritional yeast, and there are few if any direct alternate substitute products that I know of, i.e. most all that i have found are all fortified yeast products. That said, I'm not convinced that fortified nutritional yeast is such a bad thing if that's all you can afford, but this NON-fortified yeast is premium quality and may taste better than what else is out there. One *strong recommendation I have when consuming nutritional yeast, fortified or NON- : if you are going to eat it straight out of the bag/etc. definitely go with smaller spoonfuls for two reasons: 1) Especially with larger quantity at once, it is a fine powder/dustlike texture, and may not all get moistened as you eat it, and I have wound up inhaling a bit of it this way, so be careful and eat less at a time, if eating straight off a spoon! 2) The other thing is, consuming larger quantities at once, even if it does all get moistened, it can get really gummy and stick to your teeth/gums and the roof of your mouth, worse than peanut butter! Of course it eventually dissolves and is consumed, but if eating by the spoonful, again I recommend eating smaller spoonfuls at a time, but there's a better way to consume it IMO: Add as much as you want, by stirring it into broth! especially BONE BROTH, if you can make/get it! UPDATE, other comments: AS stated previously, I've bought this a couple of times based on suggestion from someone knowledgaable about health and nutrition, but maybe also has stock in the company, or is not exactly 'budget-minded' when it comes to food or supplements. This stuff tastes great, and I believe is a premium product, as it's the only *non-fortified* nutritional yeast I was able to find at the time (I've seen a few others around now, since I first purchased this, ad there are ow cheaper non-fortified options. That said, it is a bit pricey @ 18 bucks for an 8-oz bag.... At the very least, the more common, 'fortified' nutritional yeast products on the market are considerably cheaper, and I'm not convinced of the benefits of 'non-fortified' over supposed 'harmful' effects of 'fortified' yeast as it's a very common product. This is why I think that anyone who says 'Be sure to get NON-fortified' is probably invested with the company, as it's the only non-fortified nutritional yeast that I know of...the labeling is a bit cringey to me, as if it has to have any extra description on the front, I think "Rich, Savory Flavor" sounds better than 'Tastes Like CHEESE,' because the 'cheese' association is kind of gross...actual *cheese* is fine, I like cheese, but describing something as 'cheeselike' but that isn't cheese is not exactly appealing. I enjoy it best when I'm not thinking about 'cheese,' ad BTW, real cheese of just about any variety, or even cheese-flavored chips and other crunchy snack foods --- are a LOT cheaper, if 'cheese flavor' is your priority... in summary it DOES taste great, is quite a versatile add-in, adding richness for other foods (and beverages like broth), and maybe is 'extra beneficial,' so if you can afford it, then go for it...otherwise, I'm sure that 'fortified' nutritioal yeast is just fine, and better than none at all.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So tasty! I wasn’t expecting it to taste this good! It has a delicious, slightly salty, cheesy flavor that goes well with almost everything. I love adding it to pasta, or veggies. It’s healthy, flavorful.

Wasn't sure I would like it but it's pretty good. This is how I get my B vitamins. Tastes good in anything. Not big flakes, almost more of a coarse powder. Still good. I recommend it.

FINALLY AN UNFORTIFIED nutritional yeast! Most have folic acid in them which is bad for 50-60% of the population that has MTHFR. My daughter and I both have it so finding this nutritional yeast has been amazing, adds a nutty cheesy flavor to food and pairs great with shredded Parmesan cheese.