How A Little Science And A Lot Of Shady Advertising Boosted Yeast's Popularity
Nutritional yeast isn't a new health fad — in the 1920s, sales exploded due to the "Yeast for Health" campaign. But bad news about the candida strain affected all yeast, and it's just now rebounding.
The name "nutritional yeast" is so thoroughly unappetizing that some people have taken to calling it "nooch" instead, as though the abbreviation — which sounds like the name of someone from the Jersey Shore — is somehow an improvement.
The yeast itself is a dried, inactive form of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, better known as brewer's or baker's yeast. It looks like a yellow flake of fish food.
Yet there's a whole subset of people for whom popcorn sans nutritional yeast is unthinkable. It's commonly used as a cheese substitute in vegan dishes ranging from lasagna to
