Yeasts are the protagonists of the bread-making process: unicellular microorganisms in nature, they are in fact responsible not only for the structure and volume of all flour-based doughs, for example bread, but at the same time for its flavour.
Indeed, it would be impossible to “inflate” a dough and make it soft without using yeast. But let's see how we can classify the yeasts we use in the kitchen:
Natural yeasts: brewer's yeast, sourdough or sourdough, milk kefir.
Chemical yeasts: tartaric acid, cream of tartrate, sodium or ammonium bicarbonate, and others.
In this article, however, we are interested in another type of yeast, spontaneous yeast, rightly called also "wild yeast", or obtained through the natural (spontaneous, in fact) contamination of a mixture mostly of water and flour with bacteria and yeasts normally present in the air, also called autochthonous. Yes, you read that right: the bacteria we find in any environment.
The definition of "wild yeast" in fact fits perfectly, because it starts from a culture prepared in inadequate environments and above all managed by personnel without any training in microbiological matters. Put simply: it is one thing to have a biotechnologist develop a bacterial culture, it is one thing to have it done by a pizza chef who, however good he may be with dough, will never have the skills of a chemist.
In fact, the spontaneous nature of these doughs makes the entire baking process very dangerous, because it is uncontrolled, left to chance, because it poses a risk to health: without adequate control of the work environment, it is not difficult for pathogens to develop that the cooking temperature would not be able to kill.
In short, hygienic safety and spontaneous yeast are two things that don't get along, unless we decide to have a bakery or pizzeria set up in a biomedical laboratory in Bayern (so to speak, of course). In fact, the use of these doughs is not only strongly discouraged, but very risky for health.
Today in Italy spontaneous yeast is a new and moderately prolific business: not only does it manage to deceive hundreds of consumers with its products, but it is expanding with courses and schools, as if it were something innovative. The only innovative thing, unfortunately, is the risk of pathologies for consumers.
In fact, the dangers to health are very great and in a certain sense unpredictable, because the pathogens that can be formed with this method are unpredictable: in fact, it is impossible to know with absolute precision which bacteria can develop.
The increase in pathologies and allergies that has been rampant in recent years is the engine of this new business: unscrupulous marketing seeks to exploit precisely these fears and these ailments for its own benefit, resorting to false news and useless products (in this even dangerous cases) to the detriment not only of consumers, but of an entire agri-food chain.
I believe that yeast-free products are a passing fad, destined to disappear as it appeared, which perhaps will leave some scars both on the people who have followed it in good faith or out of ignorance and on the shoulders of the companies which have been working correctly for years to churn out ( the term is not casual) certified and guaranteed quality products.
That's right: it is impossible, in an artisan bakery of White Art, from the bakery to the pizzeria, to produce products without yeast, because every production room is inevitably "contaminated" by bacteria, for example from sourdough or lactic ones.
The "leavened" not only does not exist, but it is not permitted by law, under penalty of administrative sanctions with the aggravating circumstance of misleading advertising and criminal sanctions if some customers become intoxicated.
Even those food marketing players who have decided to ride the wave with the motto of "no added yeast" have plunged headlong into this new and fraudulent market: another misleading advertising, prohibited and subject by law to the same sanctions mentioned just before. Not to mention the dangers of this type of product not only in terms of processing methods, but for people who actually have allergies or yeast-related diseases.
We have already said that the uncontrolled management of the spontaneous leavening method can lead to serious consequences with the development of contamination and toxins, serious pathologies up to the death of the consumer in extreme cases.
Thinking of innovating by leaving the variables of the manufacturing process to chance is truly absurd: very technical, scientific, specific notions are needed to take responsibility for a spontaneous leavening process, as well as perfect control of the work environment. Forget about those who improvise chemists but who are nothing more than a good pizza chef who has carried out tests and experiments on their own or at a mill but who are not chemists, otherwise it would not be necessary to study 5 years of University to become a chemist if a few rudimentary experiment in a mill laboratory. Someone without having the necessary skills improvises as a technician by launching spontaneous fermentations without knowing that he plays on the razor's edge and if something goes wrong, he puts people's health at risk. The pizza maker has to go up to a certain point in experimentation when he enters the field of chemistry for which he necessarily does not have the necessary skills, if he wants to go further in a field that does not belong to him he should stop and, if anything, turn to someone who has a real scientific training demonstrated and certified not by those who improvise "technicians" without a degree.
If we really, to give an absurd example, wanted to use a spontaneous leavening process in bread-making, to be truly safe we would have to have a sterilized and bacteriologically controlled laboratory (which is not the laboratory of a pizzeria or a bakery), aseptic (already an operating room would not do very well), in-depth knowledge of biotechnology and biology at the university post-doctoral level, finally a lot of courage and a little recklessness: all this to make a sandwich or a pizza.
In fact, it is one thing to operate in a company with aseptic rooms, cutting-edge machinery for microbiological checks and highly qualified personnel, quite another thing is to try to do the same thing in the laboratory at the back of a pizzeria or bakery, going between the other against all HACCP food hygiene regulations, without having the slightest knowledge of what is happening to our yeast, without any control. This is about production.
After having seen the dangers of the production process, let's analyze consumer protection in the face of misleading advertising of "leavened".
This designation, which in most (misleading) cases only indicates that no brewer's yeast was added to the ingredients, was actually born to meet the healthy needs of some consumers suffering from pathologies such as allergies or intolerances to yeast, therefore consumption of foods that do not contain even a small part of this ingredient. Foods which, we remind you, must be produced in ad hoc, controlled and certified laboratories.
In fact, yeast is naturally present in any environment, starting from the premises, the personnel, the machinery, up to the dough. If we had a bacteriologically aseptic room, it would be enough to open the door for a few seconds to contaminate it.
In front of, or rather inside, a mixture of flour and water at room temperature, the conditions are naturally created for the vital development of any form of microorganism, therefore the birth, growth and development of the blastomycete, i.e. the unicellular fungus that gives life to fermentation: yeast.
Precisely because yeast is everywhere, certainly in any room aimed at the production of flour-based doughs, the denomination "without yeast" was introduced, but it is certainly not acceptable that it be misrepresented by bakers who improvise laboratory technicians. A bakery, pizzeria or pastry shop cannot produce yeast-free dough, even if they wanted to. They can't by law, but neither can they in the real world.
This form of advertising is therefore misleading both from a legal and scientific point of view. Not only is it a commercial offense, but it is very dangerous for the health of consumers.
In conclusion, dear pizza and bread maker friends, since you are not chemists and do not work in pharmaceutical industry laboratories, continue to work as you have always done, without following deceptive fashions, with which you could also risk poisoning your customers and take criminal penalties. Inform yourself well before experimenting with new working methods that someone occasionally tries to launch improperly, be wary of fake "technicians", improvised chemists and "pizza wizards". Follow the straight path of food safety, the protection of your work and your loyal customers.
