By the middle of the 19th century, two events had
occurred which had a very significant impact on the
manner in which food fermentations were performed
and on our understanding of the process. Firstly, the
industrial revolution resulted in the concentration of
large masses of populations in towns and cities. This
meant that the traditional method of supplying such
foods within local communities no longer applied.
The ability to service these new markets
to be made in large quantities necessitating
the industrialisation of the manufacturing process.
Secondly, the blossoming of microbiology as a
science from the 1850s onwards resulted in the
biological basis of fermentation being understood for
the first time. Thus, the essential role of bacteria,
yeasts and moulds in the generation of fermented
foods came to be understood and this ultimately
resulted in more controlled and efficient fermen-
tations.
The coincidence of scientific advancement
industrialisation of the manufacture of fermented
foods was fortunate. Clearly, the traditional approach
of backslopping or even natural fermentation of
substrate was not an appropriate foundation upon
which to base any large-scale industrial process. The
of retailing and mass marketing required that
products of consistent quality and safety be avail-
For many fermented foods, but particularly
milk-derived products, the characterisation of
responsible for the fermentation
the end of the 19th century led to the
isolation of starter cultures which could be produced
on a large scale to supply factories involved in the
manufacture of these products. This significant de-
velopment had a major impact on the processes used
contributed to ensuring consistency of product
and reliability of fermentation. These developments
parallelled significant technological advances in the
and processing of milk which has resulted
in dairy fermentations being among the most
sophisticated and best researched of the food fermen-
tations to this day. For example, research on the
lactic acid bacteria, which have a dominant role in
production of many fermented foods, particularly
those that are milk-based, has continued to advance
at a very impressive rate through the 20th century