**12. Conclusions and Recommendations**

The present global regulatory framework is confusing and limiting. Science is developing and many exciting new technologies will continue to transform the world and improve human welfare. The market is imaginative and not discouraged by the limitations of the science.

Foods prepared by fermentation, aside from those well known in the West, will increase in amount and use spreading to other parts of the world, including the developed Western countries, as they contribute to the diversity of gut microbiota and indirect impact on mental health. The knowledge about the microbial ecology of food and beverage ecosystems is essential in order to understand the production process.

Over the past decades, the increased complexity of the food supply chain has contributed to global emergence of food safety incidents. As a result, reform of Food Safety Management regulation throughout the food supply chain has been gaining momentum in legal systems worldwide. To this end, discrepancies in food safety incident response can be identified amongst legal systems. The reasons for these discrepancies reside in different models for prediction of permissible levels, non-complete information about risks and in differences in sampling procedures. The very notion of risks, as well as the understanding and evaluation of particular risks, reflect and shape the values, preferences and prejudices of a society and therefore country differences.

The FDA in the USA and the EFSA in Europe acknowledge that many proposed rules, if finalized, may have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and may impair fair and open trade among different continents and countries. Many challenges still remain regarding the establishment of dietary guidelines integrating education, agriculture, health, environment and industry.

**Author Contributions:** Victoria Bell drafted and helped research the manuscript. Jorge Ferrão researched data from Africa and traditional fermented foods. Tito Fernandes conceived the idea, wrote and revised the manuscript.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
