Bacteriophages do not appear to cause problems in sauerkraut fermentation. Pureculture
fermentations are not common, and if one or several LAB strains are infected
by phages, other naturally occurring strains will become dominant and carry out the
fermentation. Dissemination of bacteriophages within a fermentor is very limited,
because the brine is normally not circulated in sauerkraut fermentations. However, dissemination
may occur during the early stages of fermentation as long as carbon dioxide
is produced by tissue respiration or microbial metabolism. The gas bubbles force their
way to the surface and therefore enable transport through the fermenting substrate.