Experts agree on new global definition of 'fermented foods'
January 5th, 2021
New publication clarifies the concept of fermented foods and specifies how they differ from probiotics
Humans have consumed different types of fermented foods - from kimchi to yogurt - for thousands of years. Yet only recently, with the availability of new scientific techniques for analyzing their nutritional properties and microbiological composition, have scientists begun to understand exactly how the unique flavors and textures are created and how these foods benefit human health.
Now, 13 interdisciplinary scientists from the fields of microbiology, food science and technology, family medicine, ecology, immunology, and microbial genetics have come together to create the first international consensus definition of fermented foods. Their paper, published in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, defines fermented foods as: "foods made through desired microbial growth and enzymatic conversions of food components".
Co-author Bob Hutkins, Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at University of Nebraska, Lincoln--who has authored a well-known academic textbook on fermented foods--says, "We created this definition to cover the thousands of different types of fermented foods from all over the world, as a starting point for further investigations into how these foods and their associated microbes affect human health."
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