To some extent I will say "fair enough" in that it does change the taste. I've done both ways and yes it tastes better with yeast versus baking soda (until you get too much yeast, then it tastes yeasty, lol.) But it was a... very specific term you chose there...
I'm not really sure that companies have stopped using yeast. I can't say one way or the other on mass producers, but I know most places that make their own bread commercially still use yeast. Most even do the whole keeping a batch "up to date" (I forget what you call it, but where you take some from each batch to add to what what was removed so it evolves over time to a particular taste.) Perhaps mass production companies do use baking soda, but their biggest taste issue is too much sugar.
