It also makes things rotten. The difference between spoilage and fermentation/aging is whether humans like the result at the end.
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> The difference between spoilage and fermentation/aging is whether humans like the result at the end
Is not whether it makes humans unwell quite an important factor..
Liking the result at the end in a qualifier that encompasses "does not make me ill", "does not taste terrible", and various other factors.
Edit: nvm
The difference is whether humans get ill or not.
People get ill from alcohol, yet it's called fermentation.
No, people get ill from excessive quantities of alcohol.
Acetaldehyde is always toxic, so no, they always get sick, just less sick.
Getting drunk is literally poisoning yourself. Some humans just happen to enjoy the symptoms of said poison.
Kind of reminds me of dolphins taking turns chewing on pufferfish, apparently for fun/altered states.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dolphins-seem-to-u...
Most people aren't getting drunk every time they drink.
Try wine and grape juice side by side. Baring truly awful wine, the wine will taste better (I suppose you could have awful grape juice too, but, you get the idea).
Taste is subjective. To people not used to consuming any alcohol the wine might taste worse than plain grape juice.
Sure, but it's a taste people have spent a couple thousand years working on, and it's remained popular through huge changes in culture and diet. People clearly like it.
Context and experience shape so much of how we taste things
> Try wine and grape juice side by side. Baring truly awful wine, the wine will taste better
The unfermented juice of wine grapes has many similarities to the wine it would produce if fermented. "Grape juice" is usually pretty one note, just sweet.
Sure, but if alcohol didn't get you drunk consumption would plummet 95%.
I wouldn't be so sure... I'm certain my own would increase. (Assuming 'get you drunk' means something like 'contain ethanol' i.e. no 'buzz' or whatever but also no adverse effect on liver, the next day, ...).
If you want a cold drink that isn't sweet, your choices are pretty much alcohol, alcohol-free alternative, water.
That seems unlikely. Non alcoholic drinks are already an enormous market, and people would have less reason to limit consumption with the health downside removed.
If you hate the taste of alcohol (like me), I think the grape juice would taste better
I like beer and I think the taste of wine is absolutely vile.
Totally agree. I love beer. I just love it. I would drink beer all day if it didn’t have that damned alcohol in it.
I like alcohol too, but not nearly as much as I like beer. Kinda sounds nonsensical, but that’s how I feel!
The dose makes the poison.
Same could be said of fire and burnt food
What is fermentation really? It is a process whereby bacteria et al. process a food source, breaking it down. And the same process goes on inside your gut. Ouch, now there is spoilage for you!
There is at least some research that says fermented foods have some benefits including reducing inflammation. My personal guess based on subjecting myself to more and more fermenting foods is that much of the obesity and many of the common health issues have to do with not eating enough fermenting foods. Just a guess based on a sample of one.
In the case of this style of korean soy sauce, it is actually fungal enzymes from molds that colonized the meju slowly breaking down the proteins and starches over time, whilst being protected from outside forces by high salinity water. I realize you said "et al." but I couldn't help myself. There's very little bacterial activity going on in there.
AS far as downsides go. Don't koreans have a much higher incidence of bowl cancer due to a bad bacteria that can pop up during fermentation?
No, fermentation is a process of enzymatic transformation.
Black tea is fermented, for example. No need for bacteria.
I have to disagree: black tea only had an oxidation while fermented tea had an oxidation plus a fermentation by microbial activity: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_tea
The term "fermentation" is very often used buy common language to describe both fungic and microbial activity.
1. Classical (Microbiological) Fermentation:
This is the most common definition, especially in biology and food science:
Fermentation is the metabolic process by which microorganisms (like bacteria or yeast) convert organic compounds—typically sugars—into other substances such as alcohol, acids, or gases.
Examples:
Yeast turning sugar into alcohol in beer or wine.
Lactic acid bacteria fermenting lactose in yogurt.
2. Enzymatic (Non-Microbial) Fermentation: In certain fields, especially tea processing, cigar aging, or cocoa fermentation, the term fermentation is also used more broadly to describe biochemical changes driven by enzymes—either from the plant itself or from microorganisms.
Examples: Tea (e.g., black tea): The so-called "fermentation" is actually oxidation catalyzed by enzymes in the tea leaves themselves (like polyphenol oxidase), with little to no microbial activity.
Cigars (tobacco leaves): Enzymes within the tobacco leaf, often activated by warmth and moisture, cause internal biochemical transformations (not always microbial).
Cocoa beans: Initially microbial fermentation, but internal enzymes in the bean also break down compounds, affecting flavor.
The line between spoiled and fermented… blurs, at times.
What point are you even trying to make? The difference between gone bad and fermented is pretty obvious, but fine, don’t eat anything fermented if you like.
I’ll be over here enjoying cheese, kimchi, beer, miso, pickles, sauerkraut, etc etc etc
chocolate
TIL! I had no idea chocolate-making involves fermentation. Turns out fermenting the beans is highly involved in producing the characteristic flavor.
Coffee, similarly
And veggies and meat begin decaying the moment they die. So what?
The difference between spoilage and fermentation is whether it’s spoiled.