Yeast Used By The Food Industry May Cause Infections Says Study

The yeast considered non-pathogenic and widely used in the food industry may be responsible for clinical yeast infections reveals a recent study conducted at the University College Dublin in Ireland. The study was published on Thursday and was led by Alexander Douglass report Science Insider. It identifies Candida krusei as a yeast species which is drug resistant and causes yeast infections.

Be Careful Of Yeast

The yeast species identified by the study is responsible for causing disease and even proving fatal for those with an impaired immune system. Alternatively another species Pichia kudriavzevii has been marked safe as it has been used for centuries for making food products like fermented cassava, cacao, fermented milk, and maize beverages. But the report by Science Insider says that quite little has been investigated on the genetic or genomic strains of both these yeast species.

“It may be advisable to consider non-pathogenic Pichia species as possible alternatives for some industrial applications,” Douglass said. “It would also be advisable to set limits on the levels of drug-resistance permissible in P. kudriavzevii strains that are used in industry, particularly the food industry.”

Professor Ken Wolfe, principal investigator of the study added, “If I suggested using drug-resistant Candida albicans to make food, I would be stopped immediately. But with drug-resistant Candida krusei, nobody bats an eyelid because the food makers use a different name for it.”