From Peter Niepel, Kaitaia, New Zealand
I would like to comment on your review of the book Ferment. I am a German artisan baker, mostly making German sourdough. I also grew up with lots of fermented foods and I would say I have some good knowledge about them. A crucial factor is which of the microorganisms in these foods survive our digestive system. The stomach is very acidic. From what I have learned, most of the microorganisms are destroyed in that environment. What my research has shown is that most fermented dairy products will provide microorganisms to our guts because these survive the stomach. Sourdough, sauerkraut and so on don’t provide a lot of gut microorganisms. Their advantage lies in being more digestible(13 September, p 24).
To read about the future of fermented foods, see page 32
