Archive Highlight: The science of fermented foods, part 1, with Prof. Bob Hutkins

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Welcome to the first episode of our new series on the latest fermented food science. We are highlighting Episode 1 from our archives with guest Prof. Bob Hutkins, University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Prof. Hutkins wrote a popular textbook on fermented foods and has had a 40-year career in fermentation science. He shares why he ended up in fermentation science, as well as how fermented foods are made and how important live microbes are for their health benefits.

Key topics from this episode:

• What fermented foods are
• The scientific consensus definition published by ISAPP
• Fermentation processes and practices used in early times and still used today
• The benefits and safety of fermented foods, as well as the difference between fermentation and food spoilage
• The live microbes present in fermented foods, how many are present, and their potential health benefits
• Why some fermented foods have live microbes and others do not; and how even when live microbes are absent due to heat treatment, for example, these products may still be classified as fermented 
• The differences between fermented foods, probiotics, and probiotic fermented foods

Episode links:

• Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods, 2nd Ed., by Robert W. Hutkins
• The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on fermented foods
• The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic
• Synbiotics: Definitions, Characterization, and Assessment – ISAPP webinar featuring Prof. Bob Hutkins and Prof. Kelly Swanson

Additional resources:

• Fermented foods. ISAPP infographic
• What are fermented foods? ISAPP video
• Do fermented foods contain probiotics? ISAPP blog post
• How are probiotic foods and fermented foods different? ISAPP infographic
• Are fermented foods probiotics? Webinar by Mary Ellen Sanders, PhD

About Prof. Bob Hutkins:

Bob Hutkins is the Khem Shahani Professor of Food Microbiology at the University of Nebraska. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University School of Medicine. Prior to joining the University of Nebraska, he was a research scientist at Sanofi Bio Ingredients.

The Hutkins Lab studies bacteria important in human health and in fermented foods. His group is particularly interested in understanding factors affecting persistence and colonization of probiotic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and how prebiotics shift the intestinal microbiota and metabolic activities. The lab also conducts clinical studies using combinations of pro- and prebiotics (synbiotics) to enhance health outcomes. More recently we have developed metagenome-based models that can be used in personalized nutrition.

Professor Hutkins has published widely on probiotics, prebiotics, and fermented foods and is the author of the recently published 2nd edition of Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods.