The lactic acid bacteria form a very interesting group of microorganisms that is characterized by the ability to ferment carbohydrates into lactic acid, a weak acid that helps to conserve foods. As a result, biotechnology has held an important place in such traditional agrifood sectors as the dairy industry, brewing, baking, cooked pork meats, wine-making, cider-making, vinegar-making, distillation of spirits, etc., from time immemorial, despite the fact that the mechanisms involved were long unknown. The major difference with the past is that today the fermentation industry's professionals have a much better grasp of the underlying phenomena's complexity. So, part of THT's work is to select and produce continuously and on a large scale the bacteria that will give a given foodstuff, through fermentation, specific organoleptic and/or storage properties. These are what the industry calls "fermentation starters." However, while the bulk of THT's activities serve traditional markets, a whole new swath of activities is growing quickly in the food sector, that of food supplements and functional foods. Indeed, today we are witnessing the emergence of food supplements, or "nutraceutics" and other "functional foods." Having swept across Japan and North America, these nutraceutics and functional foods are now hitting Europe. This phenomenon meets a very clear trend in the population, namely, the search for a healthy diet that helps prevent disease. The people want to take charge of their own health. Their quest for a healthy diet is a means to achieve this end. Now, the driving forces behind the "health food market" are none other than the "probiotics," that is to say, products containing living microorganisms that, when ingested in the appropriate quantities to supplement a normal diet, improve our health. The lactic acid bacteria are widely recognized as having a positive effect on human (and animal) health, principally by improving the balance of the intestinal flora. Here, too, THT has contributed to the wealth of international scientific publications attesting to this effect.