Yeastrophobia

The first mention of yeast phobia can be found in the book of American raw food propagandists Eugene and Molly Griswold Christian, published in 1904, where the authors write about the process of raising the test as a result of "infection" with yeast and compare yeast with worms ^[1] . Yeastrophobia became widespread in Russia in the early 2000s ^[2] . Probably, the first text on this subject appeared in 2000 in the newspaper AiF - Health : it was an article by the journalist V. Volkov “Yeast killers ”, in which, with reference to “American scientists”, it was stated that yeast causes cancer ^[3] .

Conspiracy theory is supported by Orthodox fundamentalists ^[4] , who believe that "thermophilic yeast" is grown on the bones of people and animals and that they were invented by the Nazis as a biological weapon to destroy the Russian people ^[5] . Supporters of the conspiracy theory are the propagandist of holistic medicine A. Savelov-Deryabin ^[6] , the chairman of the Union for the struggle for national sobriety V. Zhdanov ^[7] , the singer Zhanna Bichevskaya ^[8] . Various non-confessional “spiritual seekers” support yeast yephobia ^[9] . Texts and videos about the dangers of yeast were posted on the websites and forums of non-Orthodox religious groups: Buddhists , Slavic neopagans , followers of Reiki , as well as on the website of Mary Kay ^[9] . Conventional supporters of conspiracy theory, interviewed by a journalist with the online publication Lenta.ru , argue that promoting the yeast is beneficial to the pharmaceutical business, that it is part of the “ golden billion ” war against humanity ^[10] .

Irina Matveeva, doctor of technical sciences, professor at the bakery and pasta technology department of Moscow State University of Food Production, said in an interview with the Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper that there are no “thermophilic yeasts” that are described by conspiracy theory ^[11] . She emphasized that it is impossible to prepare yeast-free bread, since the yeast is on the surface of the flour ^[11] . In the same interview, Ivan Chernov , corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences , professor of soil biology at the Moscow State University’s Department of Soil Science, explained that non-baker’s yeast can infect the immune system and cause fungal candidiasis , but such pathogenic yeast is not used in bread production ^[11] . Authors of the article in the journal “Food Industry” believe that information about killer yeast and “bread genocide ” is spread by unskilled bloggers who mislead food consumers ^[12] .

Social anthropologist Zhanna Kormina sees in yeast phobia a manifestation of a culture of mistrust, that is, a complex of fears towards the state and related institutions (science, medicine, education, the media) ^[13] . Although there are religious motives in this culture of mistrust, even priests say “not so much about the posthumous salvation of the soul, but about a change in the quality of life here and now”, which is a sign of the New Age movement ^[14] . Social anthropologist Yulia Andreeva sees in fear of yeast (and GMOs ) an example of how New Age ideas penetrate traditional religions ^[15] . Doctor of Philosophy Alexander Prilutsky considers the “danger of yeast bread” along with other conspiracy theories that are not directly related to religion (“ harm from vaccinations ”, etc.), whose supporters believe that they are at war with the antichrist himself, and therefore rational revelations will not affect them ^[16] . Some Orthodox priests also oppose yeast phobia ^{[17] [18]} .

• Andreeva Yu.O. Religion New Age: approaches, criticism and problems of the use of the term // Religion and History: Materials of the V Intern. scientific-practical conf., Minsk, April 20–22. 2017 - Minsk: Publ. BSU Center, 2017 .-- pp . 407-411 .
• Efanov A. "Yeast-killers"? // Prejudice instead of faith? Where do near-church superstitions come from. - M .: Danilovsky Evangelist, 2013 .-- S. 223—229. - 273 p.
• Karpov M. The fermentation of minds (neopr.) . Lenta.ru (July 16, 2018). Date of treatment February 28, 2019. Archived July 17, 2018.
• Kormina Zh.V. Gastronomic intrigues of the destroyers of Russia and the culture of distrust in society // Nezavisimaya Gazeta. - 2017 .-- February 2.
• Kormina Zh. V. Killer yeast: gastronomic conspiracy theology and a culture of mistrust in modern Russia // Anthropological Forum. - 2015. - No. 27 . - S. 142-175 .
• Obukhov M. On the heresy of “yeast-phobia" // Prejudice instead of faith? Where do near-church superstitions come from. - M .: Danilovsky Evangelist, 2013 .-- S. 232—235. - 273 p.
• Prilutsky A.M.Semiotic space of conspiracy theological narrative and myth // Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Arts. - 2016. - No. 3 . - S. 264-270 .
• Serova E. Bread killer: they scare us, but we are not afraid // Moskovskaya Pravda. - 2006. - December 1. Archived on June 7, 2018.
• Tretyak L.N., Yavkina D.I., Kupriyanov A.V. Information uncertainty and its influence on ensuring the quality of food products // Food Industry. - 2017. - No. 4 . - S. 30-35 .