Bakers yeast extract

Yeast extract is a savoury flavouring rich in natural glutamates and nucleotides. It is what gives Marmite and many stocks and crisps their depth, and it is often used where a label free of added MSG is wanted, though the flavour comes from the same compounds.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Bakers yeast extract by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 184.1983retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFANot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

What it is made from

Made by breaking open baker's yeast, letting its own enzymes digest the cell contents, then separating the soluble extract from the cell walls.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

  • Bakers yeast extract

Hazard reference values

No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.

Evidence and how bodies read it

Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/bakers-yeast-extract.json