Yeast itself does not contain gluten, but the way it is grown and packaged can lead to contamination. Yeast grown using barley can contain gluten, making it unsuitable for those with celiac disease or severe gluten intolerance. Brewer’s yeast may also contain trace amounts of gluten. Gluten-free yeast is labeled appropriately, and substitutes like xanthan gum can be used in gluten-free baking.
If you have severe gluten intolerance or celiac disease that requires a gluten-free diet, you should be concerned about gluten in yeast. Yeast is a microorganism classified as a fungus and therefore, by itself, does not contain gluten, a protein found in foods such as wheat, barley and rye. How yeast is grown and the medium used to distribute the yeast, however, can be a cause for concern about gluten in yeast. Yeast that is grown using barley, for example, can contain gluten and should be avoided by anyone on a gluten-free diet.
The issue of gluten in yeast may initially seem rather absurd. This is because yeast is a known microorganism which, by itself, does not contain any of the proteins known as gluten. Someone who understands what yeast is, but not necessarily how it is developed or packaged for commercial sale and consumption, might therefore assume that all store-bought yeast is innately gluten-free. While yeast itself is gluten-free, there is the potential for gluten in yeast that is sold in a package or container, depending on how the yeast was grown.
Brewer’s yeast, for example, which is often used to make beer or alcohol, often contains trace amounts of barley or wheat that may contain gluten. This means that someone could be exposed to gluten in cultured yeast this way. While this is likely a very small amount of gluten, those with celiac disease or severe gluten intolerance can have a negative reaction to any amount of gluten. Other types of yeast can be cultured through the use of beet sugar, meaning there is no gluten concern in yeasts of this type.
Most types of yeast that are gluten-free are labeled appropriately to avoid gluten concerns in yeasts that are gluten-free. Yeast is often used in baking, allowing the yeast in the dough to consume sugars in that dough and create carbon dioxide, which is then trapped in pockets of gluten that cause the dough to rise. Since someone concerned about gluten in yeast is unlikely to use other products in bread that might produce gluten, they typically need to find other ways to make the bread’s trapping gas release the yeast. Substitute ingredients like xanthan gum can be used to make a gluten-free bread that still rises quite comparable to gluten-free bread.
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