The first-ever one-stop network in North America has started disseminating easily assimilated data, recipes, and other materials regarding the health advantages of fermented foods.
On November 17, the Canadian Fermented Foods Initiative (CFFI) brought together industry and research specialists from throughout the nation and Europe.
The partnership facilitates the exchange of reliable, fact-based knowledge and information regarding fermented foods between consumers, researchers, medical experts, and the food sector.
Funded by the Weston Family Foundation, the initiative is led by Jeremy Burton, PhD, who heads one of Canada’s largest microbiome research programs and is Interim Vice President Research at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Lawson Research Institute. His research leadership is joined by Raylene Reimer, PhD, professor of nutrition at the University of Calgary; and University of Alberta professor Ben Willing, PhD, former Canada Research Chair in Microbiology of Nutrigenomics.
Fermented foods such as sourdough bread, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha offer more than just good taste and an economical way to preserve food, Burton says. Large, population-based studies show people who eat fermented foods are generally healthier, with fewer digestive issues and lower risk of chronic diseases.
“How exactly does that work – and why? Well, that’s the big question we’re trying to solve,” Burton said. “One day, I believe, ‘ferment-ceuticals’ will be engrained in our diets and our health vocabulary.”
St. Joseph's is a leader in the field. A paper authored by the team and published in Advances in Nutrition represents the most comprehensive synthesis to date of research on fermented foods and human health.
Connor Flynn, a London, Ontario, chef, master food preserver and high school teacher whose video recipes are included in the CFFI website, added: “Fermenting foods is an old practice that’s never fallen out of flavour, but has sometimes fallen out of favour to North Americans. Now it has become popular again.”
