In brief
Living Foods™ is Wondrous World’s category of formulations built around cultivated microbial consortia. Understand what living means in a dry formulation, how organisms are grown together, and why viability and intended use matter.
A new category of nourishment
Living Foods™ are a new category of nourishment from Wondrous World, built around living microbial consortia.
What does that mean, exactly? Consortia are communities of microorganisms. For Living Foods, we carefully select soil-borne organisms (SBO) and grow them together. How those organisms interact, and the conditions that sustain them, are central to the formulation.
We created this category to bring the living ecosystem into the way we understand nourishment. Food and supplement are familiar words, but neither, on its own, explains our focus on cultivated microbial communities. Living Food for Living Systems™ expresses that purpose.
Here, Living Foods are microbial formulations; the term does not refer to raw or fermented food in general.
Living does not always mean active
A dry powder does not look especially lively. So how can it contain living organisms?
Some microbes enter dormancy, a state in which their metabolic activity slows substantially. Metabolism is the chemical work that keeps a cell functioning. Reducing that activity can help an organism survive when conditions become difficult. 1
Think of dormancy as a biological pause. The organism remains alive and may resume growth when suitable conditions return. A dead organism cannot make that transition.
Viability means the ability to remain alive and grow when conditions allow. In a finished formulation, that is something to measure. Product testing checks whether organisms survive processing and storage; a powder’s appearance cannot tell us.
Growing microbial consortia
Co-culturing means growing different microorganisms together in a shared environment. They develop alongside one another, so their interactions become part of the cultivation process. This differs from blending cultures that were grown separately.
Those interactions are worth a closer look. Researchers studying soil bacteria have found that some depend on substances supplied by their neighbors, while others compete for resources. A community can reveal relationships that would be missed by studying its members alone. 2
For Living Foods, cultivation is part of the definition. We consider how the organisms are grown together as well as which organisms are present. Co-culturing describes that process; it does not, by itself, establish the health effects of a finished product.
The environment inside the formulation
Even microscopic life needs somewhere to live. Scientists use the word medium for the material in which microorganisms are grown or held.
A growth medium supplies resources during cultivation. A carrier holds the organisms in the finished product. Sometimes the same material serves both purposes; sometimes the materials differ. When we refer to a host medium here, we mean the material surrounding the microbes inside the formulation.
That environment changes when water is removed. Dehydration can slow microbial activity, but drying can also damage cells. Survival depends on the process used, the surrounding material, and storage conditions. 3
When moisture returns, viable dormant microbes may become active again if the other conditions they need are present. Water matters, and so do available nutrients and the environment around them. 1 That is why preparation and storage instructions belong with each particular formulation.
Where prebiotics and probiotics fit
You may already know these words from a label or a conversation about gut health. Their scientific meanings help us understand where they fit alongside Living Foods.
A prebiotic is a substance selectively used by microorganisms in or on a host, producing a health benefit. In everyday terms, certain microbes use it as a resource, and that use benefits the person or other living host. Both parts matter: feeding microbes alone is not enough to establish a prebiotic benefit. 4
Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer a health benefit when supplied in adequate amounts. Put simply, being alive is only the beginning. Evidence must show a benefit from the identified organisms at the amount used. 5
Living Foods form Wondrous World’s category of nourishment. Prebiotic and probiotic are established scientific terms. A Living Food may also qualify under those terms when its contents and evidence meet the relevant criteria. The descriptions can overlap without meaning exactly the same thing.
Different living systems have different needs
Our category extends to formulations for people, animals, plants, and soil. Each setting has its own conditions, so the organisms, consortia, and ways of delivering them can vary.
A formulation designed for one setting is not automatically suitable for another. When you explore a Living Food, begin with its intended use. Its product information should explain what it contains, how to use it, and the evidence behind its stated purpose.
Continue exploring
That quiet powder now gives us more to consider. We can ask how its organisms were cultivated, what surrounds them, and whether they remain viable. Those details help us understand the living community within a formulation.
Explore Shop Living Foods for the current collection and information about individual formulations. To get to know the organisms in their ecological setting, continue with What Are Soil-Borne Organisms?
Sources
- [1] Lennon JT and Jones SE. Microbial seed banks: the ecological and evolutionary implications of dormancy. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2011;9:119–130. General dormancy context.
Read source - [2] Yousif G et al. Obligate cross-feeding of metabolites is common in soil microbial communities. Nature Microbiology. 2026;11:2436–2447. Ecological evidence; publisher abstract and figure descriptions.
Read source - [3] Haindl R et al. Impact of cultivation strategy, freeze-drying process, and storage conditions on survival, membrane integrity, and inactivation kinetics of Bifidobacterium longum. Folia Microbiologica. 2020;65:1039–1050.
Read source - [4] Gibson GR et al. ISAPP consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2017;14:491–502.
Read source - [5] ISAPP. What Qualifies as a Probiotic. Updated September 5, 2025; with the ISAPP consensus definitions infographic. Identity, safety, demonstrated benefit, and adequate amount.
Read source - [5a] ISAPP. Probiotics, Prebiotics, Synbiotics, Postbiotics and Fermented Foods. Consensus definitions infographic.
Read source