Ants can be used to make yogurt – and now we know how it works

Simply placing as few as four live ants into a container of milk provides enough microbes, enzymes and acids to kickstart the fermentation process that creates yogurt.

Today, most yogurts are produced by fermenting milk using commercially made starters. However, the industrialisation of the process has meant that countless traditional fermentation practices from around the world are overlooked.

In places including Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, researchers…