ABSTRACT
The production of fermented foods is one of the oldest food processing technologies known to man. Of course these processes were first artisanal in nature. Today, even though some of these traditional processes remain in use, large-scale industrial processes have been developed. The advent of retailing and mass marketing required the availability of products with consistent quality and safety. For many fermented foods, and thus for fermented meat products, the characterization of micro-organisms responsible for the fermentation, toward the end of the 19th century, led to the development of starter cultures. This development had a major impact on the process and contributed to ensuring consistency of product and reliability of fermentation. Research on starter cultures continued to advance at a very impressive rate through the 20th century and considerable knowledge was developed to manipulate and control these bacteria.
