Imagine that you have stumbled across a new process that extends the shelf life of perishable food indefinitely and makes it taste better at the same time. This is the holy grail of food scientists. Their efforts are targeted on finding chemicals that will make food taste better or lengthen sell-by dates. Actually, such a process already exists. It is free and has existed for thousands of years. It’s called fermentation.
The Covid pandemic reinforced the view in the public’s mind that microbes are dangerous. Repetitive hand washing, face masks, antibacterial wipes, and disinfectant gels became part of everyday life. But bacteria are not necessarily evil. In fact, many of the good things in life depend on microbial transformation to make food more delicious, more digestible, and more stable for storage. Think of bread, yoghurt, wine, pickles, cheese, soy sauce, and salami.