Widespread Mislabeling of Nutritional Yeasts Uncovered by ConsumerLab

White Plains, NY, February 24, 2025—  Nutritional yeast can add a savory flavor to foods and be a good source of protein, fiber, and niacin. Fortified nutritional yeast can also provide vitamins B-6 and B-12, making it a common addition to vegan and vegetarian dishes. However, recent ConsumerLab tests of popular nutritional yeasts revealed nine out of 10 products did not live up to their label claims, containing much lower amounts of vitamins B-6, B-12, folate, or iron than listed. Several fortified nutritional yeast products also contained amounts of niacin that can cause adverse effects.
 

Key Findings:

• Most nutritional yeast products do not contain what they claim: All non-fortified products fell short on iron, containing between just 10 to 49% of the amount listed on their labels. Fortified nutritional yeasts failed for claims regarding folate vitamin B-6, or B-12.
• Excessive niacin: A single serving of most fortified products exceeded the 35 mg Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of 35 mg for niacin, above which adverse effects, such as skin flushing, tingling, or burning can occur. The amounts were well over the daily requirement for niacin of 16 to 18 mg for adults.
• Heavy metals contamination: None of the products exceeded ConsumerLab’s strict limits for lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury.

Only one product passed all of ConsumerLab’s tests of quality. This, and the fact that it delivered significant but safe amounts of vitamins including B-6, B-12, folate, niacin, and iron, had exceptional taste, and was reasonably priced made it ConsumerLab’s Top Picks for nutritional yeast.  

Industry Response:

Within 12 hours of publication of this report, one of the brands that failed testing informed ConsumerLab that their third-party manufacturer had provided incorrect Nutrition Facts labeling of vitamins, which was then corrected, but it is now looking into mislabeling of iron.

Based on this response and the widespread mislabeling discovered by ConsumerLab, ConsumerLab’s President and Founder, Tod Cooperman, M.D., warns that “People who rely on nutritional yeast to provide essential vitamins and minerals – such as vegans and vegetarians – should be concerned by these findings, as they may not be getting sufficient amounts of key nutrients.” He added “The industry needs to get this problem fixed right away. It seems that some manufacturers have been applying the wrong information to their labels.”

Access the Full Report:

ConsumerLab’s Nutritional Yeast Review can now be accessed online by ConsumerLab.com members – who now number over 100,000.

The report includes test results and comparisons for 10 nutritional yeast products including fortified and non-fortified yeasts which were selected for testing by ConsumerLab: Anthony's Non-Fortified Nutritional Yeast, Anthony's Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Bob's Red Mill Large Flake Nutritional Yeast, Bragg Nutritional Yeast, Frontier Co-Op Premium Nutritional Yeast, Foods Alive Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Gloriously Vegan Noochy Licious Nutritional Yeast, KAL Imported Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Sari Foods 100% Non-Fortified Nutritional Yeast Flakes, and Trader Joe's Nutritional Yeast.

The review also discusses the clinical evidence for other health benefits for which nutritional yeast is also promoted, including “boosting” the immune system and lowering cholesterol and blood sugar, as well as the best way to store nutritional yeast, and side effects and cautions when using nutritional yeast.
 

Founded in 1999, ConsumerLab.com is a leading provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition. It has reviewed over 7,000 products and has published Product Reviews covering nearly every popular category of dietary supplements and health foods.

Membership to ConsumerLab.com is available online and provides immediate access to continually updated reviews of nearly every popular type of dietary supplement and health food, answers to reader questions, and product recalls and warnings. ConsumerLab also provides independent product testing through its voluntary Quality Certification Program. The company is privately held and based in New York. It has no ownership from, or interest in, companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell consumer products.