Recent Concerns About Fermented Food Safety

Fermented foods are characterized by a nearly perfect safety record; only rarely are reported as vehicles for foodborne infections or intoxications, mostly due to the antagonistic capacity of the fermenting microbiota and the antimicrobial activity of their metabolites. However, the same microbiota may also produce metabolites that are toxic to humans. Indeed, dietary intake of microbial metabolites such as mycotoxins, biogenic amines, and urethane have been correlated with a series of adverse health issues, refueling, thus, the discussion on the safety of fermented foods. The present study aims to collect all data regarding the occurrence of the aforementioned metabolites in foods, along with the studied mitigation strategies and critically discuss them.