Microbial cultures

Not all bacteria, yeasts or moulds are spoilage or pathogenic, if present in the food. Some are also useful.

There are also useful and harmless microorganisms in food, known as "microbial cultures" or "bacterial cultures and the cultures of yeast and mould."

Some foods are intentionally added microbial cultures to promote some special properties. The cultures can be added for a technological purpose, for example to acidify the milk, so that it becomes yogurt, or to affect the consistency of the various dairy products so as to obtain a good mouth feel. Microbial cultures can also be used to influence flavour development in cheeses such as Brie, Danablu, Jarlsberg, Havarti, etc.

Microbial cultures are also used in the production of wine, bread, fermented vegetables and meat to preserve, affect the flavour, acidify, etc. Cultures may also be used in food supplements

legislation and regulations

When microbial cultures are added to a food product, their presence must, as with the addition of any other ingredient, be declared in the food's list of ingredients. In certain cases, the food must also be labelled with information regarding the quantity of a particular ingredient.

Under certain conditions, cheese, butter, fermented milk, and cream are exempt from the requirement to carry an ingredients list, including the declaration of added microbial cultures.

Guidance

This guidance document describes the rules on the labelling and related requirements for food products.

Guidance on labelling rules (PDF)

 The legislation governing the addition of microbial cultures to foods is partially harmonised within the EU, as novel microorganisms are covered by the rules on novel foods:

Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council on novel foods

Cultures that are added for a specific technological purpose and that replace or correspond to the effect of a food additive may, in principle, be considered to fall within the scope of the Food Additives Regulation:

Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on food additives

The rules governing the labelling of microbial cultures are set out in the Food Information Regulation:

​Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.