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Teaching bacteria to be good

Microbiologist Michael Gänzle's work on fermentation could transform the
food industry

BRIAN BERGMAN

So, would you like some bacteria with your sushi? In your wine or dinner
roll? Don't scoff. While it's unlikely your maître d' will be asking you
this anytime soon, an emerging field of research suggests that injecting
certain foods with "good" bacteria -- as opposed to those nasty pathogens
like the E. coli bug -- can actually improve digestion, boost the human
immune system and help prevent diabetes. What's more, benign bacteria also
promise to make your food taste and smell better.

One of the leading researchers in this area -- known as probiotics -- is
Michael Gänzle, a 37-year-old microbiologist who was recruited from his
native Germany by the University of Alberta just three months ago. Gänzle
now holds the Canada Research Chair in Food Microbiology and Probiotics,
which comes with a five-year, $500,000 federal government grant. "In the
20th century, we were very much concerned with getting rid of all bacteria
in food," says Gänzle. "The emphasis in the 21st century will be more on
removing the bad guys while keeping the good guys."

Currently, probiotics research is focused on food and drinks that are
fermented -- including cheese, some types of sausage and many breads -- but
it could ultimately be applied to any food that is not heated or cooked
before being eaten. For centuries, cheeses have been aged to varying
degrees, allowing bacteria to generate a distinctive and, for some palettes
at least, pleasurable taste. Since the 1970s, yogourt products injected with
bacteria have been marketed commercially as a nutritious snack. But it
wasn't until the 1990s that probiotics research began in earnest, most of it
centred in Europe.

Gänzle is particularly interested in the role lactic acid bacteria might
play in producing health-enhancing breads. Among potential beneficiaries are
people with the digestive disorder celiac disease, who cannot tolerate
gluten -- a protein found in wheat. There's evidence that adding the right
organisms might result in a bread that celiac sufferers would be able to
eat. Similarly, lactic acid and other bacteria could be used to slow down
the rate at which starch and sugars in breads are digested, helping to
prevent diabetes and to lower cholesterol levels. It's also thought that
benign bacteria can be used to help ward off pathogens that pose a real
threat of spreading infection.

But it's not all about health. Gänzle believes his research could transform
the food industry by revealing exactly how fermentation works. Now, he
notes, fine cooks make great breads and cheeses while knowing nothing about
the microbiological forces at play. If science can find ways to speed up
fermentation, says Gänzle, it might be possible to generate the same high
quality foods on an industrial scale, and sell them at a competitive price.
Bacteria and capitalism -- it was only a matter of time before they found
each other.