According to the Berkshire Eagle, lacto-fermented vegetables are all the rage. But I’d be concerned about how food safety is managed.

Hosta Hill, a Berkshires-based maker of lacto-fermented vegetables and unpasteurized tempeh, has been honored with a 2016 Good Food Award for its Gochu Curry Kraut, a variation on traditional sauerkraut featuring Indian and Korean influences.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized for the second consecutive year by the Good Food Awards,” Elling, a Berkshires native and graduate of Monument Mountain High School in Great Barrington, said in the press release announcing the award. “We love that they say we ‘celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced’ because it acknowledges the complete method behind the meal. To have our handmade ferments, featuring sustainably grown ingredients from right here in the Berkshires, reach a national audience and be mentioned in the same sentence as so many of these other great companies is an incredible honor.”

Does responsibly produced include vetting their starter culture suppliers and asking them to test their products for Salmonella. And telling the folks who use the unpasteurized tempeh that they need to handle it like raw meat?