Fermentation Gains Favor As Consumers Seek “Cleanly” Processed Specialty Foods

Foodies, nutritionists and others disdain industrial “processed foods” because of their salt, fat, sugar and chemical ingredient content. But a more ancient form of food processing, preserving and flavoring – fermentation – has caught their attention. Using microbes like yeast and lactic acid bacteria, fermentation dovetails with some major market trends: natural, minimally processed, few ingredients and healthful. Fermentation is being used to create a wide variety of specialty, craft and artisan foods, including yogurt, beer, cheese, kimchi, etc.