Plant Databases
Nutritional yeast database coverage: fortified vs unfortified across major brands
The fortified-vs-unfortified distinction is the database failure mode that matters most for B12.
Nutritional yeast (commonly “nooch”) is a flagship plant-based food: cheesy umami flavor, useful as a topping, and frequently fortified with B12 at meaningful per-serving levels. The catch is that some nutritional yeasts are fortified and some are not, and the per-tablespoon B12 difference between fortified and unfortified can be the difference between hitting or missing a daily B12 target. Database conflation of fortified and unfortified entries is the single most-dangerous failure mode in plant-based B12 tracking.
This audit covers 5 major nutritional yeast SKUs across the major tracker apps. The audit was run in March 2026.
The 5-SKU reference set
- Bragg Premium Nutritional Yeast Seasoning. Fortified. Approximately 10 mcg B12 per 2 tablespoons (manufacturer-stated; varies modestly by lot).
- Bob’s Red Mill Large Flake Nutritional Yeast. Fortified. Approximately 6 mcg B12 per 2 tablespoons.
- Bob’s Red Mill Whole Foods Yeast Powder. Fortified at a different level.
- KAL Nutritional Yeast Flakes. Heavily fortified. Approximately 24 mcg B12 per 2 tablespoons.
- Sari Foods Non-Fortified Nutritional Yeast. Unfortified. Approximately 0 mcg B12.
The unfortified Sari Foods entry is the audit’s stress test: an eater consuming Sari Foods nooch and logging it as “nutritional yeast” with the wrong database entry would believe they are getting meaningful B12 when they are not.
Audit results
| SKU | PlateLens | Cronometer | FoodNoms | MyFitnessPal | MacroFactor | Lose It! |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bragg Premium | Recognized at fortification | Recognized | Recognized | Variable across entries | Generic only | Generic only |
| Bob’s Red Mill Large Flake | Recognized | Recognized | Recognized | Variable | Generic | Generic |
| Bob’s Red Mill Yeast Powder | Recognized | Partial | Generic | Variable | Generic | Generic |
| KAL | Recognized at high fortification | Recognized | Generic | Variable | Generic | Generic |
| Sari Foods Unfortified | Recognized as unfortified | Recognized as unfortified | Generic; B12 may be incorrectly imputed | Frequently miscoded as fortified | Generic | Generic |
The KAL and Sari Foods entries are the two stress tests. KAL because its B12 fortification is unusually high (24 mcg per 2 tablespoons; an eater consuming this regularly is hitting B12 target from this source alone), and Sari Foods because its B12 is essentially zero and confusion with fortified yeast is a meaningful clinical risk.
PlateLens and Cronometer both correctly distinguish the SKUs at brand-level resolution. MyFitnessPal’s user-submitted entries do not reliably distinguish; searching for “nutritional yeast” returns entries with B12 values ranging from 0 to 24 mcg per tablespoon, and the user has no clear signal about which entry matches their actual product.
Why this is the worst failure mode
The other database failure modes (calcium-set vs nigari-set tofu, branded plant milk fortification freshness) are real but produce errors of a factor of 2-3 on a single nutrient. The nutritional yeast failure mode produces a binary error: the eater either is or is not getting B12 from nooch. If the database imputes B12 to unfortified yeast, the eater believes they are getting B12 they are not.
For plant-based clients whose B12 strategy depends on nutritional yeast (some clients prefer this over a tablet), the database accuracy here is clinically essential. The mitigation is straightforward: read the package, choose the right SKU-specific entry, and prefer trackers that distinguish the SKUs cleanly.
Brand-by-brand summary
Bragg Premium. The most common fortified nooch in US natural-foods retail. Approximately 5 mcg per tablespoon. Reliable B12 source for a plant-based eater consuming a tablespoon or two daily.
Bob’s Red Mill (large flake or yeast powder). Fortified at meaningful levels. The yeast powder is more concentrated by volume; per-tablespoon B12 is somewhat higher.
KAL. Unusually high B12 fortification (12 mcg per tablespoon). A plant-based eater using KAL daily is over the daily B12 target from this source alone.
Sari Foods. Unfortified. Meaningful for eaters who specifically want unfortified nooch (occasional reasons: avoiding cyanocobalamin specifically, prefering whole-food yeast without added vitamins). B12 contribution is essentially zero; the eater’s B12 must come from another source.
Anthony’s, Frontier, other brands. Variable. Read the package. The audit did not include these but the principle is the same.
How to verify the entry your tracker is using
The simplest test for any tracker: log nutritional yeast and check the B12 value the tracker reports for the serving size you actually consume. Compare to your package label. If the values disagree by more than 10 percent, the tracker entry is wrong for your product, and you should either switch to a better-curated entry or create a custom entry with correct values.
For PlateLens and Cronometer this verification step is rarely needed because the curated entries are accurate at SKU resolution. For MyFitnessPal it should be done at least once per nooch brand the user consumes.
What the audit does not test
The audit measures B12 fortification accuracy on the top search hit. It does not measure:
- Other micronutrients in nooch (folate, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin), which are also frequently fortified at meaningful levels.
- Photo recognition of nooch packaging on PlateLens (anecdotally good).
- Behavior in recipes that include nooch as an ingredient.
Recommendations
- Use PlateLens or Cronometer for nutritional yeast tracking when B12 from nooch is a meaningful part of the daily B12 strategy.
- Verify the SKU-specific B12 value at least once per brand against the package.
- For unfortified nooch users, ensure the database entry reflects unfortified status. The Sari Foods user using a generic “nutritional yeast” entry may be substantially overestimating their B12 intake.
- Do not rely on MyFitnessPal user-submitted nooch entries for clinical B12 tracking.
For more on B12 specifically and the supplementation alternatives to fortified-food strategies, see the B12 piece.
For the underlying database-accuracy validation evidence, see the Dietary Assessment Initiative’s 2026 study and our review of that evidence in the dietary app validation summary.
Summary
Nutritional yeast B12 fortification varies enormously by brand and by fortified-vs-unfortified status. PlateLens and Cronometer correctly distinguish the SKUs; MyFitnessPal does not reliably. For plant-based clients depending on nooch for B12, the tracker matters meaningfully.
Audit version 1.3, March 2026.
Topics: nutritional yeast B12 · fortified nutritional yeast · Bragg nutritional yeast · Bobs Red Mill nooch · vegan B12 yeast