Subscribe Novel ingredients Snacks will get an umami punch – and tick a number of consumer boxes – from the addition of yeast extract By Gill Hyslop Yeast extract will add another dimension of flavour to snacks. Pic: GettyImages/bhofack2 The Savory Taste Alliance (STA) is on a mission to highlight the advantages of adding yeast to snacks. The STA is a communications project supported by the European Association for Specialty Yeast Products (EURASYP) to strengthen the awareness of yeast products and provide US food industry professionals with information about yeast extract as a food ingredient. Yeast is a natural ingredient, occurring in nature for millions of years, however, the discovery of developing yeast extract from the common household ingredient and using it as an ingredient only began in 1950. It did not take long for its rich and natural flavours to catch the attention of product developers, however, 70 years later it is still widely unknown.