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I have a tub of nutritional yeast with a "best by" date of February 2012 (at the time of this posting, it's about a month past that). Is it still good to use? It still looks and smells the same as it always has.

In general, what is the shelf life of nutritional yeast?

Does nutritional yeast ever expire or otherwise go bad? Or just lose nutritional value?

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Several sites say 18-24 months, but I haven't seen any reliable sources. Red Star seems to get the nooch they sell from Lesaffre - maybe you can ask them? lesaffrehumancare.com/others/contact.html – paul Apr 11 '12 at 7:27
@paul, thanks! Yeah, I did a decent amount of internet searching before posting this and found the same thing -- a lot of people said 12 to 24 months, but a few sources said several years. In any case, none of the sources seemed reputable enough or scientific enough to trust, which is why I posted here ;). I also tried contacting one supplier and they sent back a canned marketing email that didn't answer my question at all. I'll try Lesaffre, thanks! – Ben Lee Apr 11 '12 at 15:17

4 Answers

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+50

Your question: is it good to use. My answer: yes.

  1. You say it smells and looks normal. That's an important clue.

  2. We are talking about a dry product. No moist means no growth, no toxins...

  3. Best before date. Wikipedia:

Most shelf life dates are used as guidelines based on normal and expected handling and exposure to temperature. Use prior to the expiration date does not necessarily guarantee the safety of a food or drug, while a product is not always dangerous nor ineffective after the expiration date

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up vote 1 down vote

I'm not sure about an expiry date, but I have been told by an employee at a health food store to keep it in the dark as it is negatively affected by prolonged exposure to light.

Also, growing up, my mom always kept it in the freezer and I do likewise now. I use it straight out of the freezer, and some that I currently have had in there for at least a year in a tightly closed plastic bag stil tastes great when I use it.

As mentioned by others, it is not active like bread yeast, so that will prolong its life. Also, it seems quite salty to me, so whatever is adding the salty aspect to it may also be helping preserve it.

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up vote 0 down vote

Nutritional yeast is different from bread making yeast. It s deactivated thus it does not expire like regular yeast.

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up vote -2 down vote

The shelf life of yeast is approximately two years. The yeast will become inactive after that time. Reference: http://www.redstaryeast.com/lessons-yeast-baking/yeast-shelf-life-storage

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1  
Do you have a reference? – Sobachatina Apr 2 '12 at 22:25
2  
First, your link is about dry yeast, and the question is about nutritional yeast. Second, it only tells us how far the "best by" date will be from the date of production. The OP asked what happens to yeast after the date passes. – rumtscho♦ Apr 3 '12 at 12:26

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