Nutritional Yeast Flakes

• Nutritional yeast flakes are produced by culturing yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses for a week. Afterward, the yeast is harvested, washed, dried and packaged to make it commercially available in the form of flakes, or as a powder. It is similar to cornmeal in texture, and can be found in most natural food stores. Because nutritional yeast is grown on molasses, it has a mild nutty or cheesy flavor.
  
  

Brewer's Yeast Flakes

• Brewer's yeast, not to be confused with beer yeast, comes in flake form, as a powder or tablets. Brewer's yeast is a by-product of beer making which comes from the foam formed at the top or bottom of a wort during fermentation. Brewing yeast tends to act slower that other types of yeast, but also produces fewer off-flavors.
  
  

Benefits

• Flake yeast has high nutritional value and health benefits. It contains a high source of protein and vitamins, especially B-complex vitamins. Yeast flakes are also naturally low in fat and in sodium as well as being free of sugar, dairy and gluten. Some brands of nutritional yeast also contain added vitamin B12.
  
  

Uses

• While most forms of normal yeast have a bland or neutral flavor, both nutritional and brewer's yeast have distinctive tastes. Brewer's yeast is generally bitter in flavor. Because of their health benefits, yeast flakes are also used within nutritional supplements in some health foods such as shakes. Nutritional yeast flakes are often used as substitutes for cheese and popcorn toppings.