Fermented Foods

Not all fermented foods contain probiotics.

Fermented foods are foods made using desirable microorganisms that change the properties of the food components. Throughout human history, fermentation has served as a way to preserve and transform foods, creating more stable and diverse foods with unique tastes and textures.

All fermented foods require microbes for their creation, but not all fermented foods contain live microorganisms at the time of consumption. When they do, the number of microorganisms can vary significantly depending on how products were manufactured and processed, as well as conditions and duration of storage. Fermented foods are generally safe to eat because the fermentation process typically keeps harmful microorganisms at bay.

Few microorganisms in fermented foods meet the criteria for probiotics because they have not been specifically named and tested for health benefits. Instead, microorganisms in fermented foods typically fall under the category of live dietary microbes.

Featured

What’s New

Explore All Resources on Fermented Foods

More Resources on Fermented Foods

1-60 of 64 results

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

  • Fermented foods: a perspective on their role in delivering biotics
    This article explores the intersection of fermented foods and biotics (including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics and postbiotics) — concepts that are frequently conflated.

  • Positive health outcomes associated with live microbe intake from foods, including fermented foods, assessed using NHANES database
    This interrogation of a dietary database linked consumption of foods containing live microbes with several biomarkers of health.

  • Commentary on: functional food science and gastrointestinal physiology and function
    This commentary explores the relevance of gut microbiome science and posits that continued mechanistic research is needed to provide a rational basis for selecting probiotics and other biotics for use in functional foods.

  • A Classification System for Defining and Estimating Dietary Intake of Live Microbes in US Adults and Children
    This paper estimated dietary intake of live microorganisms in US adults and children, using cross-sectional data from NHANES dietary database. The authors assigned foods an estimated level of live microbes per gram and estimated the percentage of individuals with low, medium and high intake.

  • Probiotics, Prebiotics, Synbiotics, Postbiotics and Fermented Foods Defined

  • What are fermented foods?
    Research suggests that fermented foods may improve your immune system and may reduce risk of some metabolic diseases that are influenced by diet. A fermented food or beverage is a food transformed by the growth and metabolic activities of microbes – such as bacteria, yeast and even some molds.

  • Do all fermented foods contain a probiotic?
    The microorganisms in fermented foods rarely qualify as probiotics because they’re present in unknown or unstandardized types and amounts.

  • The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on fermented foods
    An ISAPP-led panel of international experts defined fermented foods and beverages as “foods made through desired microbial growth and enzymatic conversions of food components”.

  • Should There Be a Recommended Daily Intake of Microbes?
    Evidence from various sources suggests beneficial effects from regular consumption of safe live microbes — also called live dietary microorganisms. In this ISAPP-led opinion article, authors propose assessment of the types and quality of the data available on microbe intake, and in particular the evaluation of evidence available from dietary databases.

  • Fermented foods in a global age: East meets West
    Among the variety of fermented foods produced globally, many differences exist with respect to substrates and products and the microbes involved in their creation. This review discusses such differences and considers the influence of geography and industrialization on fermented food production.

  • Fermented foods
    To create fermented foods, certain types of bacteria, yeasts and/or molds change the flavor and texture of the starting materials. Some fermented foods and beverages still contain live microorganisms when they’re consumed, but other fermented foods undergo processing steps that kill or eliminate the live microorganisms.