Introduction to Effective Microorganisms (EM)http://web.archive.org/web/20051215005439/http://www.eminfo.info/moreem1.html#dilutionsVinny Pinto

-------- Original Message --------Subject: Re: [compost_tea] The use of EM in brewer cleaning.Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 06:55:43 -0800 (PST)From: Tim H <letitgrow69@yahoo.com>To: compost_tea@yahoogroups.com <compost_tea@yahoogroups.com>

EM or Effective microbes is the work of Dr. Higa From Japan. He runsthe Company Terraganix which you can buy EM-1 Which is the motherculture. From there you can brew extensions. The uses of EM are variedand huge. Vinny Pinto has a many websites and yahoo groups soley forthe pourpose exploring the uses of EM.http://web.archive.org/web/20051215005439/http://www.eminfo.info/moreem1.html#dilutionsThis is his older web site that links you to alot of his work and anexplanation on what EM is and how to brew. His other web sites he getsinto the ORMUS and more metaphysical properties of EM. EM is a reallyinteresting topic, I just read an article that a organic farm in thefallout area of the nuclear disaster in Japan, that use EM has ZERORadiation detected from the fields and its produce. Effective Microbesare incredible for many uses.

-------- Original Message --------Subject: [compost_tea] Re: The use of EM in brewer cleaning.Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:55:08 -0000From: Tim Wilson <thegoodjob@hotmail.com>To: compost_tea@yahoogroups.com

Be aware that there are two competing companies making EM culture in the USA. One which is SCD is supported by Vinny Pinto (last I knew anyway) and the other is EMROUSA http://www.emrousa.com and the official sales branch is TeraGanix http://www.teraganix.com

Although the later is condoned officially by Dr. Higa, I do not believe he has a hand in the running of the company (but I could be mistaken). EM is produced by Eric Lancaster (still, I believe) in Arizona, though many believe, mistakenly that the product comes from Japan. Dr. Higa is not (so far as I know) happy at all about the EM produced by SCD.

Steve Diver, Vinny Pinto and myself pretty much began exploring and using EM around the same time. I have some very old fermentations which I still use internally and I ferment it to give to my dogs.

EM fermentations are probably a good choice for cleaning brewers if you wish to use something stronger than water. Be aware that EM fermentations will stain especially if not rinsed thoroughly immediately.

EM fermentations are very good horticultural/agricultural amendments and are worth checking out. Unfortunately it seems to me that the quality of EM culture has declined in recent years. I can no longer get the EMROUSA product and my recent fermentations have been made with SCD culture. I've noticed that it takes longer for the pH to drop, at least in the batches I've purchased (with the extra PNSB). All EM years ago had at least three species of PNSBs but now you are lucky to have one and must pay extra for two (so far as I know).

I very much enjoyed using EM fermentations in tandem (one before the other) with ACT in my perpetual garden beds which I had going for up to 7 years without disturbing the soil. EM & ACT are like Yin & Yang in a garden. I find EM fermentations great for breaking down dead matter while ACT is more of a nutrient cycler.

For those interested, I encourage exploring fermenting indigenous microorganisms as taught by Gil Carandang in the Philippines. I can't locate his website right now but he may chime in. He has a book on the subject. The other easy practice is to culture your own lacto bacillus.

Introduction to Effective Microorganisms (EM)http://web.archive.org/web/20051215005439/http://www.eminfo.info/moreem1.html#dilutionsVinny Pinto

Links to pages on this website:

Main page for the EM Info website

Introduction to Effective Microorganisms (EM)

This EM Info website is intended to provide a complete introduction toa technology generically known as Effective Microrganisms (aka EM) andit's uses in many fields, including agriculture, waste remediation,odor control, and human and amimal health. Throughout this website,the simple and generic abridgement "EM" will be used as anabbreviation to denote the general class of microbial consortia knownas Effective Microorganisms (and known as well under many othernames.) This is in keeping with the use of this contraction throughoutmuch of the world as a shorthand to indicate Effective Microorganismsand cultures with similar properties and functionality, regardless ofthe brand names or trade names which may be employed in a region.Table of ContentsYou will find the following sections in this cluster of pages about

Effective Microorganisms, or EM (aka EM1). This Table of Contents,with links, appears at the top of each of the pages in this EMsub-site.

Introduction and Background (on main EM page):

PrefaceMission StatementIntroduction to EM, also a Brief List of UsesAre Effective Microorganisms (EM·1) Patented, Trademarked or Registered?More About EM: Debunking a Few EM Myths; a Brief FAQA Bit of Background and History on EMMore About EM:How I Stumbled upon EMThe Various Names for EM·1 and Similar and Related ProductsAre EM and EM-like Cultures Produced and Marketed Only by EMRO and itsLicensees?EM Secondary Products: Ceramics and MoreThe EM Culture and Organisms (Flora)The Secrets of the Various Dilutions and Ratios (sub-sections listed below...):Are the Dilutions (such as 1:1:100 or 1:1:1,000) as Powerful asActivated EM (at 1:1:20)?How Long Do the Dilutions with Molasses Stay Potent and Viable?Why Does My Activated EM Have an Effective Life of 30 Days, While EMStock Culture is Claimed to Have a Useful Lifetime (Viability) of 6Months?More Info about EM, Including Origins, Dr. Higa's Observations on EM, etc.Some Basic Assertions Made About EM By Dr. Higa and OthersThe Core EM Organisms May Have Arrived on Earth From Outer SpaceA Few Miscellaneous Notes on EM-X and Tropical Plant ResourcesGetting Started With EM in the Real World:Where to Purchase EMWhat to do with Your EM Culture When You Receive ItMaking Activated EM, Formerly Known as EM ExtensionStoring and Using Activated EM·1 (EM Extension)EM Bokashi; EM and Antioxidant Activity :Making EM Bokashi (Compost)Storing and Using EM BokashiBottle Labels, Labeling, Uses and Local Regulations and Laws (a big one!)plus National, State/Province Regulations and Regulatory ComplianceEM, Antioxidant Activity, and EM-XHuman Uses of EM:Human Uses -- EM Products for Drinking, BathingEsoteric Human Uses -- EM for Producing Monatomic Elements, Bread, Beer

Some Notes on EM Dental Products (yes, it is sold in dental productson the market!)Claimed Variance in Batches of EM Source Culture, and How to ManageInevitable Batch VarianceGuidelines on Making EM Brews for Human ConsumptionEM-X and Related; also: Online EM-related ResourcesEM (and EM-X) and Reports of Healing Chronic DiseaseTaking a Look at EM-X: How is it Made?How I Homebrew an EM-X-like Antioxidant BeverageRelevant Patents on EM Products and Related Products in Human NutritionEM Information Resources on the Web: Websites, E-mail List Groups about EMOther EM Information Resources: Mini E-books, E-NewsletterUtility Uses of EM and Miscellaneous Articles:Various Utility Uses of the Antioxidant (aka Reducing or Reductive)Effects of EMDetails on Uses of EM in Removing Rust, Corrosion and Tarnish (Gunkand Crud) from Metals, a Fun Demonstration with Some PracticalApplications!And Now, Two Sincere and Extremely Serious Scientific-type (sigh!)High-brow Articles for the Science Geeks Among Us (Some Humor).....Using Baby Space Aliens in a Test Tube Filled With Green or PinkNutrient Slime as aNutrient Amendment in Brewing Batches of Activated EM (humor)Use of "Fortune Teller Miracle Fish" to Determine Fermentative Brew Statusof Batches of Activated EM (AEM) Brews (humor)

And, Back to More Mundane Articles....EM and Its Acidity -- Dangerous for Plastics?

Effects of EM Upon Some Plastics and Rubber, and on Some Fabric Dyes

Short Sections Found on Most Pages:

About the AuthorContacting the AuthorDonations and Support! Future Sections which may be added over time:Hints on Making Homemade Versions of an EM-X like Antioxidant-rich andNutrient-rich Probiotic Beverage (currently a sub-section under HumanUses)Methods for Making/Enhancing Ormus Elements or Minerals with EMMethods to Increase Effectiveness of Activated EM (aka EM Extension)

for Some ApplicationsAgricultural and Gardening Uses

Livestock and Poultry Uses

Discounted Sources for Ordering EM Products(EM culture, EM-X, EM Ceramics, etc.) andEM Fermentation SuppliesIf you are in the USA or nearby countries, and you wish to purchase EMproducts such as EM microbial inoculant culture, EM fermentingsupplies, bokashi, EM-X health beverage, EM Ceramics, EM Salt, or EMSoap, at a discounted price, please check out the two major vendorslisted below:

SCD WorldSCD World is a marketing outreach of Sustainable Community Development(SCD) in Kansas (in the USA), they also carry several lines of EMfermented antioxidant nutritional supplement beverages, as well as thecomplete Garden of Life line.Website: http://www.scdworld.comphone: 913-541-9299 (USA)Discount: If you wish to earn a 7% discount on all products, pleaseuse the discount code VP2004

EMRO USAEMRO USA is an EMRO licensee of EMRO Japan, and is located in Phoenix, Arizona.Discount: If you wish to earn a 5% discount on all products, pleaseuse the discount code VPEbookOrder through James Harrison, who is an EMRO CEMPWebsite: http://www.emrousa.comOr contact James Harrison, who is an EMRO Certified EM Provider (CEMP), at:James Harrison's phone: 978-356-7440 (SA)e-mail: jharrison@cemp.emrousa.com

Are You an Intermediate or Advanced Brewer of Activated EM (AEM) or EMBrews Intended for Human Use, and Are You Looking for an Encyclopedicand Comprehensive Guide to Brewing Such Secondary EM Products?The author of this sie, Vinny Pinto, has authored and published anencyclopedic guide and handbook which may help you in brewinghigh-quality EM fermented antioxidant secondary products for human,animal, agricultural, waste and industrial use, particularly Activated

EM and EM brews for human and animal ingestion. Are you anintermediate or advanced user or technician working with EM, or do youwish to move to the advanced level with ease? This is an e-document inPDF file format containing both basic and advanced information, aimedonly at the intermediate and advanced user, and including recipes,ingredients, methods and techniques, for brewing very-high qualitybatches of EM brews (for human use), Activated EM, aka AEM, EMExtended and EM Secondary Solution, and also hints on making very highquality fermented solid/granular products such as bokashi orEM-fermented grains for animal feed. Also covers the topic of ormuselements in EM. Content goes beyond what I have offered on mywebsites and on the list groups.

The book is entitled Fermentation with Syntropic AntioxidativeMicrobes: An Advanced Guide to Brewing EM Fermented Secondary Products-- an E-book and is available in both e-book and printed/bound format.For further information on this book and on other titles availablefrom the same author (the creator of this website), please go to theE-books, Mini-E-books, Quick Tutorials and Newsletters page on Vinny'smain website by clicking here.

Looking for an E-mail List Group on EM and Health?EM-health e-mail list group at Yahoo Groupshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/EM-health/This e-mail discussion group is devoted to the use of EffectiveMicroorganisms (EM or EM-1) in human and animal health, and relatedtopics such as their use in agriculture to produce food of higherquality, sometimes known as "beyond-organic" or "uber-organic". Thereare already a number of EM fermented antioxidant nutritionalsupplements on the market, with more being developed every day. Thelist welcomes beginners, "consumer users" and also seriousresearchers. This list is moderated by Vinny Pinto, a researcher inthe fields of EM1 and nutritional antioxidants, and a peak healthconsultant/coach. Vinny is a scientist and health researcher who hasdevoted a tremendous amount of time to research on EM and it's uses inhealth and healing,

Notice and Disclaimer(this notice appears on each page on this site)A few of the uses for EM, aka Effective Microorganisms, which are

discused herein may be contrary to regulatory rules or guidelines inyour country, state, province, county or region. Further, somepractices may be frowned upon by qualified health professionals, andsome practices could be dangerous to human health, or could bedangerous to animal health (or crop health!) if performed orprocessed incorrectly. This site and these pages are offered foreducational and informational purposes only. If you choose to use EMor any other microbial inoculant products in any way for anyapplication, you must first check with your local and nationalauthorities to determine if your planned use complies with allapplicable rules, regulations and requirements. If you choose to useEM for any purposes involving human ingestion (or placement upon skin,etc.), I recommend that you first research all relevant informationavailable in the literature and on the web carefully, and review whatthe regulatory guidelines for your country or region recommend.Further, if brewing EM products for human or animal consumption, youwill also wish to employ common sense and careful techniques.

Any statements and opinions offered in these pages are my opinionsonly offered in reportorial and informational mode , and do notreflect in any way the views of the originator of EffectiveMicroorganisms, Dr. Teruo Higa, nor of the EMRO or EMCO organizations(licensees and distributors of many EM products worldwide), nor of anyvendors, re-sellers or distributors of EM products or relatedproducts. Please note that I (the author) am not in any wayassociated with any of the above-named persons or organizations,although I may occasionally perform consulting for some companies,entities and individuals in the EM field. All opinions and statementsremain my own reportage and opinions, and at times my opinions and/orpractices may differ widly from those of EMRO Japan, EMCO, EMRO USA,INFRC, APNAN or their distributors or vendors, or any other producers,distributors or vendors of EM products or EM-like products.

How I Stumbled Upon EMI was tempted to place this section much earlier on this page, such asperhaps just after the Preface , but then I realized that it wouldmake a lot more sense and be a lot more "in context" if I placed itafter the Introduction to EM sections and the concomitant introductionto a few of the terms in the EM world.

I have trained as an electronics engineer, a data analyst, aresearcher (statistics and experimental design), a scientist (health,longevity and well-being), as a psychotherapist, and, briefly, as anacupuncturist. I have trained in the latter three fields at the

graduate level, and have worked in each of these fields. Strangely,or perhaps not so strangely, I am also a mystic, and have trained in anumber of meditative and inner spiritual disciplines over the years; Iam also a spiritual healer. On a slightly related note, I have alsotrained in several energy healing systems and in various areas looselycategorized under the wonderfully lame term "alternative health".Lastly, I have had a lifelong interest in organic gardening and insustainable farming, and, more recently, in grass-fed (organic)sustainable methods for raising livestock and poultry.

I currently reside on a forested mountainside in a remote rural area(the infamous/famous Frederick Watershed or Catoctin Watershed areanear Frederick, Maryland; I do plan to add a page paying tribute tothis fascinating remote area and it's lore on this websitesomeday....; this area has also been in the nationwide news a lot inthe past year), and in my yard I have about 30 chickens (and a fewducks, geese guinea fowl and turkeys), which I keep primarily as petsand for eggs ; I do not eat any of the birds. Yes, to answer theyet-unasked question: I am in the process of adding a poultry carepage about my birds to this website (not much completed, yet...), withsome notes on caring for them with sustainable,environmentally-friendly methods, and also notes on keeping outpredators such as red fox, stray dogs, bobcats, raccoons and otheranimals (hint, use an electric fence....) There, now that I havemanaged to demonstrate exactly how weird, zig-zag and hop-scotch mybackground and training have been, I can proceed to tell you how I gotunexpectedly snagged by this stuff called EM.

>From Mushrooms to Long-fermentation Sourdough BreadDespite my background in the general sciences and especially in thewellness and well-being realms (longevity, aging, nutrition,antioxidants), I have had little training or experience withmicrobiology (the world from which the EM organisms came...). I havehunted wild mushrooms, and learned to identify a few good species, andsome of those techqniques have involved looking at mushroom sporesthrough a microscope, and I once even tried my hand at growing oystermushrooms at home from a mail-order spore kit (this was before thevendors had it nailed down to a reliable science!) I home-brewed wineat home once, and have nurtured many a compost pile for my organicgardens over the years. Each of these endeavors involves someknowledge (if only rudimentary) of microbes and microbiology, but eacha rather minimal one. Likewise, I have purchased and grown ancientsourdough bread cultures (each consists of a particular yeast and alactic-acid bacteria in synergistic relationship), and have made my

own long-fermentation-time sourdough breads (very nutritious and verydifferent from uncultured wheat breads...) at home, but again, thisrequires less knowledge of microbes than needed even for serioushome-brewing of good beer.

On the other hand, I do have some significant experience withnutritional antioxidant research, and even have maintained, for thepast four years, a small laboratory in my home for making somerudimentary measures of the antioxidant power of various nutritionalantioxidants. This may help to explain the eventual fascination I wasto develop with the EM organisms....

EM Starts to Surface Briefly but RepeatedlySeveral times during the year 2002, I came across mentions of, orreferences to, a weird and near-magical cluster of highly-beneficialorganisms from Japan which could condition animal feed, animal waste,compost and agricultural (or garden) soil. Some of the passingreferences to this stuff did not even mention it by name, but rathersimply that fact that it was always cultured on molasses. Some of mycallers and acquaintances, especially those in the organic farmingworld, referred to this stuff as almost sacred, and viewed it (and itsuse) as the key to taking farming and agriculture several big stepsbeyond simple organic standards to a beyond organic , uber-organic,or super organic level. Indeed, some of my callers with backgroundsin organic farming or sustainable agriculture seemed to worship thisstuff, and at times made some rather extreme claims about EM, forexample:

bioremediation: that it could "eat" or totally digest pesticides,herbicides and other toxins in soils, including dioxin, and even helpto ameliorate or reduce radioactive contamination in soilthat it could convert cheap, commercially-grown grains into feed forlivestock which was far higher in quality than even the best oforganically-grown feeds...that using EM alone, with few other changes, could allow a farmerusing conventional commercial (chemical/fertilizer) methods to totallyabandon use of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers withintwo years (see the earlier FAQ and Myths section above, if this onegrabs you!)that it could drastically increase the quality and yield of producegrown on soil treated with EM productsthat even large commercial poultry and pig farmers who had been usnigEM for a while discovered that their yields increased, and, strangeryet, that loss from illnesses was drastically decreased, and that they

could often cease using vaccinations as prophylaxis against illnessstranger, some of the mentions were about using these microbes toferment raw foods or drinks for human consumption, for health reasons. Apparently these fermented drinks were high in antioxidants,probiotic organisms and other nutrients.there were even a few tales, usually from Japan, some from Dr. Higahimself, of how EM had been used to reverse cancer, diabetes and otherchronic diesases in humans within a short time.I dutifully filed all these references away in the back of my mind,and did nothing with them at the time!Then, in the last quarter of 2002, several visitors and callers(primarily consulting clients) asked me if I had any background inmicrobiology, and particularly, in anaerobic fermenation ofmicroorganisms, or in working with soil organisms on farms. I did nothave any significant microbiology experience to report, other thanhome-brewing brewing wine once, nurturing some compost piles for myorganic garden while in grad school, and treating some of my livestockfor infections with over-the-counter drugs. And, beyond the chickensand other birds in my backyard and some organic gardens from my past,I had little experience in farming, although I often go out of my wayto purchase organic grass-fed poultry, beef and dairy products fromsmall farms which practice grass-fed organic and sustainable farmingmethods. However, as the year 2002 drew to a close, I perked up whenI realized how many times these inter-related topics -- farms,microbiology, soil organisms, soil health, anaerobic fermentation --had surfaced in conversations in my life in just a few months. In myexperience, it has often been the case that if several people ask meor tell me about something within a short time, that may mean that Imay need to start paying more attention to that area of life.

Enter EMFinally, in December 2002, it clicked! Various people with whom Icame in contact (often in the alternative health and nutrition worlds)mentioned the EM microbes, and particularly the anaerobic fermentationof agricultural products (molasses, feed grains, wheat bran, farmwastes) or human foodstuffs with them, just once too often to me forme to ignore the topic any longer! I broke down and ordered a quartbottle of EM Kyusei stock culture from EMTrading.com, now known asSCDWorld.com, via their online store. I was not quite sure why I waschoosing to experiment with these organisms at this time, since mybuget was rather tight, but I reasoned that this venture was onlycosting me under 20 dollars dollars, and anyway, I could and would, atthe least, brew up some EM boakshi and feed it to my birds. Irationalized that, at the least, this should improve their health and

mine (since I eat their eggs), increase their happiness, and reducethe odor of their wastes in my yard. In reality, as I look back, Irealize that my angels were dragging me, kicking and screaming, intodiscovering the benefits of using EM in many areas of life.

Once I got my hands on the EM stuff and started playing with it, Ifound a million uses for it, and even started taking it internally asa probiotic and antioxidant supplement (only after doing my ownresearch on the safety of such a practice), and also using it as amouthwash (no, I am not recommending these practices...) The EMproducts did help my birds in many ways (they love the bokashi stuffin their feed, and will attack me for it...), but I kept finding moreand more uses for EM and EM products in my life, and kept continuallyplaying with it, particularly in the realms of human nutrition(meaning my own...) and trace mineral nutrition. Eventually, as timepassed, I became rather enamored with the tremendous antioxidant andnutritive power of the liquid produced by the fermentation of molassesand other food sources by the EM organisms.

Enuf' said... let's move on...

go back to top of page and table of contents

Commercially-available EM-Fermented Antioxidant NutritionalSupplements for HumansThere are now several EM-fermented antioxidant nutritional suplementproducts (mostly liquid brews/beverages) available on the market, evenin the Western world, and including the USA. To see a fulldescription of each of which I am aware, including availability,pricing,and where/how to get them, along with links to relevant vendorweb pages, click here to go to the Related Fermented Products on theMarket page at the Antiox Brew Website, at http://www.antioxbrew.com.

The author of this site is a degreed scientist with extensive trainingin the fields of health and well-being, a mystic and a healer, and theAntiox Brew website linked above contains a tremendous amount ofinformation on a line of several fermented antioxidant nutritionalsupplement brews using a microbial culture derived from the EffectiveMicroorganisms culture (aka EM-1 or EM1 or EM) which weredirect-marketed on a very small scale at one point during early 2003to friends and acquaintances under the brand names Sootheox andQuenchox. To learn more about these custom-crafted nutritional

supplement brews and some of their nutritional properties, includingresults of antioxidant tests from commercial third-party antioxidanttesting laboratories (along with some funny [but true] photos of theability of such antioxidant supplements to remove rust from rustediron), please see the Antiox Brew Website, athttp://www.antioxbrew.com.

The Various Names for EM·1 andSimilar and Related ProductsFirst, a note of reminder; this note also appears at the top of eachpage on this website: Throughout this website, the simple and genericabridgement "EM" is used as an abbreviation to denote the generalclass of microbial consortia known as Effective Microorganisms (andknown as well under many other names.) This is in keeping with the useof this contraction throughout much of the world as a shorthand toindicate Effective Microorganisms and any cultures with similarproperties and functionality, regardless of the brand names or tradenames which may be employed in a region.

For some reason, likely the number of cultures (human cultures, thatis!) and languages through which EM has passed and left it's mark,there are a ton of terms in the EM world which can all really denotejust two or three different things... A further factor is that thereare, and have been, a number of different producers and distributorsof EM culture and similar cultures, and each has often employed theirown name, and so, in the EM world, the naming thing can get confusingat times. Let's take a look at this...

EM-1 or EM1, now Marketed as EM·1 by EMROFirst, let us talk about the basic microbial inoculant culture,currently marketed by EMRO and some of its licensess in parts of Asiaand all of the Western World as EM·1 (that is a dot between the "EM"and the "1".) There is more than a bit of diversity in the EM world,the farming world, and the gardening world about the various names forEM. Products which exhibit the basic functionality and generalcomposition of the basic EM microbial inoculant culture have beenmarketed under the folllowing various names and labels (and more..):

EMEM1EM-1EM·1EM.1SESO

Effective MicroorganismsBeneficial Microorganisms, aka BMBM-TechnologyBenefical and Efficient Microorganisms, aka BEMBeneficial and Effective Microorganisms, aka BEMEM ProbioticEffective Microbes, aka EMEM KyuseiKyuseiKyusei EM1Vita BiosaLanox (human-use products only)Compatible Microorganisms, aka CMMolasses Culture (gee, speaking of generic names...!)As noted earlier, the name most commonly used worldwide by EMRO andsome of their licensees since late 2002 for their EM microbialinoculant product has been the (EMRO) trademarked name of EM·1, oftenaccompanied by their trademarked EM·1 logo (consisting of severallarge green dots forming a semi-circle.) Hence, if the EM or EM-likemicrobial inoculant product which you purchase bears the name EM·1,and is accompanied by the trademarked EM·1 logo, you may be quite surethat you are purchasing an EM microbial product which has ben producedby EMRO or one of it's licensees.Further, to comply with various government regulatory requirements,especially in the USA, the basic EM·1 name, as employed by EMRO, hasbeen furthter differentiated into several individual label names, suchas:EM·1 Microbial InoculantEM·1 Soil AmendmentEM·1 Waste TreatmentEM·1 Septic Waste Treatmentand possibly more variant label names as time passes, all to cmplywith varous regulatory requirements for product lagels.. Each of theseEMRO labels contain exactly the same microbial product, but simplybottled under different labels for various regulatory compliancereaons. The issue of culture uniformity across labels will bediscused in further detail in a section a bit below this one.... And,the issue of different labels with respect to local and national laws,regulations and regulatory compliance is discussed in a much latersection named:Bottle Labels, Labeling, Uses and Local Regulations and Laws (a big one!)plus National, State/Province Regulations and Regulatory Compliance

Remember - EMRO's Culture Product is Now Known as EM·1

By late 2002, EMRO offices worldwide officially decided to change theprefix [EM1 or EM2 or EM-1 or EM-1, etc.] prefix for all theirmicrobial inoculant culture products to " EM·1" . This EM·1 symbol(often used as a prefix to the full product name) has now beentrademarked worldwide. The dot in the symbol does not reporduce wellin many electronic formats, and so you may sometimes catch me writing"EM1" or "EM-1" instead of EM·1, and worse, the EM·1 name will oftenshow up as "EM 1" or "EM?1" in many e-mail programs and readers, sincethey cannot properly display the dot.

So, What are EM-2, EM-3 and EM-4?At one time, the product was primarily marketed as separate microbialproducts called EM-2 (mostly the yeasts and related organisms), EM-3(mostly the phototrophic and related organims) and EM-4 (the lacticacid bacteria). All three are now rolled up into the single EM·1product (with variant label versions) discussed immediately above,meaning that the organisms which were in EM-2, EM-3 and EM-4 are nowall rolled up together in EM·1 (aka EM1 or EM-1 or EM.1 or a dozenother names....) There are, however, still a number of regions of theworld where EM may still be marketed separately as EM-1, EM-2, EM-3,and EM-4.

What is EM-5?EM-5, aka EM5, is a special agricultural brew, consisting of EM·1(aka EM-1, etc.) fermented with various specified plant products, suchas red chili pepper, and applied to plants as a pest and fungaldeterrent. The exact formula may be found on many EM-relatedwebsites, and on some official EM websites. Typically, a farmer willbrew up a liquid fermented EM mix using various herbs, and then applythis mix to plants as a pest deterrent. A related product, also foragricultural use, is often called EM Fermented Plant Extract.

EM Extension, Now Known as Activated EM, aks EM Sceondary Stock SolutionActivated EM (AEM), previously known as EM Extension, is the stuffwhich you will brew once you receive your bottle of EM culture, usinga bit of the culture, a bit of molasses, and a lot of water (seebelow), in order to activate and extend the culture. Please note thatthe folks in the EM world sometimes refer to Activated EM as "EMExtension", Activated EM.1", “EM Extended”, “EM Extender”, “Extended”,“Extension”, “Extender”, “Activated”, or “EM Secondary StockSolution" It can get confusing! However, it is all the same thing!As of early 2003, EMRO worldwide has officially been making a seriouseffort decided to start calling this product "Activated EM·1". It wasfelt that the words "Extension", "Extender" , and "Extended",

unfortunately implied only that the EM-1 was to be diluted in water,and ignored the molasses and the important brewing (fermentation)process.

Wondering About the EM and EM-X Ceramic and Ceramic Powders, EM-X, EMW, etc.?Please see the section (probably below) entitled "Other EM·1 (aka EM)Products: Ceramics and More"to learn more!

go back to top of page and table of contentsAre EM and EM-Like Cultures Produced and MarketedOnly by EMRO and its Licensees?

When one first ventures into the EM world, it can be esy to assumethat all EM and EM-like microbial inoculant cultures are produced andmarketed only by EMRO Japan or their two primary licensees, which areINFRC and APNAN (by the way, the EM marketed by EMRO Japan is producedfor them by EM Laboratories, aka EM Labo, in Japan.) . However, whilethese are the sole producers and vendors of EM in the official EMROworld, there appear to be a number of other producers and vendors ofEM or EM-like microbial inoculant cultures around the world as well,and we will take a brief look at some of them here. However, thisdiscussion will be confined only to human producers of EM culture andEM-like cultures for human commerce, and will, for the moment, ignorethe various natural sources of similar cultures such as thecarnivorous pitcher plant, which appears to contain an EM-like culturein the liquid contained within its "pitcher".

Patent, Trademark and Licensing Questions and IssuesFor the most accurate reportage which I can muster at this timeregarding the patent, trademark and licensiing issues surrounding EMand siilar culttures, please, if you have not already read it, see thesection on this website entitled Are Effective Microorganisms (EM·1)Patented, Trademarked or Registered?

Some non_EMRO Producers and Vendors of EM and EM-Like Cultures

Japan and Parts of Asia - Unofficial ProducersWhile EM Laboratory, INFRC and APNAN are the EMRO-licensed producersand vendors of EM in Japan, I have learned from several sources thatthere is one more company in Japan which makes EM culture, and hasdone so for years, for the marketplace,although not via EMRO orEMRO-approved channels. By all accounts, while the EM produced by thiscompany seems a bit different from the EM produced for EMRO by EM

Laboratory, it is reported to be quite effective and workable.

Pakistan - Beneficial Microorganisms, aka BM or BM-TechnologyWhile there are official EMRO channels of EM production anddistribution in Pakistan, another large producer and vendor of EMmarkets their product as Beneficial Microorganisms, aka BM andBM-Technology. The organization is connected with Dr. Tahir Hussain,who is the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University ofAgriculture in Faisalabad, and a great advocate and promoter of BM.Dr. Hussain studied with Dr. Higa at the graduate level for severalyears in the 1990s.

China and IndiaNow, for a bit of the dark side of the EM world, I have receivednumerous reports that there are several "bootleg" organizationsoperating in China and other parts of Asia which produce an EM-likeproduct of very questionable quality, since it appears to be made viasuccessive serial activations (aka "extension") of EM, and, worse, itis claimed that the unscrupulous vendors often market their productunder the name EM-1, which can, of course, garner a bad reputation forthe "real" EM-1,as the products may be of grossly inferior quality.

South KoreaWhile EM has made some good inroads into South Korea via official EMROchannels such as EMRO, INFRC and APNAN, at least one producer ismarketing a similar EM culture under the name "CompoundMicroorganisms", or CM. This is likely a spill-over from the wideusage in North Korea of an EM culture which the Republic of NorthKorea calls "Compound Microorganisms", or CM (more on this in thefollowing North Korea section...).

South Korea is also the home of the rather successful Lanox fermentedantioxidant nutritoinal supplement beverages. They claim on theirwebsite and in their marketing books and flyers that they useEffective Microorganisms for their culture, and they enumerate aboutthe same member organisms in their culture as are seen in a typical EMculture, but they claim that they produce the culture inoculant stockin a university laboratory in South Korea.

North KoreaEM technologies have apparently received wide acceptance in NorthKorea, according to Dr. Higa and others in ERMO. In fact, it has beenclaimed that EM is used on literally every farm in North Korea,enabling the country to be now largely self-sufficidnt for food

production. However, it appears, from information I have received frmoseveral sources, that the vast majority of EM and EM-like culture usedin North Korea is produced and distributed under the name "CompoundMicroorganisms", or CM, perhaps as a political tool by the NorthKoreans to distance the technology a bit from what might be perceivedas its Japanese roots. So, save for the existence of one or twopublished journal articles on CM use in agriculture, co-authored withDr. Higa or his associates, the North Koreans do not seem to openlyacknowledge the connection with Dr. Higa and the term "EffectiveMicroorganisms".

Denmark and EuropeIn Denmark, the Vita Biosa company produces a wide range of EM-likecultures and products for human, pet, waste and soil use under thename Vita Biosa (with usage-differentiated names such as Vita BiosaPet, Vita Biosa Soil, etc.). I have tasted their human Vita Biosabeverage, and found it quite potent; I have also heard from a numberof folks in Europe who have used the Vita Biosa human beverage as anutritional supplement with great success.

AustraliaAustralia seems, from all reports I receive at the moment, to belargely without any large effective EMRO or EMRO-licensed channels ofEM production and distribution, and I consistently hear stories of atleast two small independent "unofficial" (meaning non-EMRO sanctioned)EM producers and vendors in Australia, and have recevied reports thatat least one of the cultures is quite good.

North AmericaThe USA enjoys a good solid presence of EMRO in the form of EMRO USA,headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, and with a number of EMdistributor/consultants across the USA (these are called CEMPS, forCertified EM Providers); their webpage may be found athttp://www.emrousa.com

However, the USA also seems to be the home to at least several otherproducers and vendors of EM and EM-like microbial cultures, none ofwhich seem to be officially connected with EMRO, and some of whichhave likely never heard of EM or EMRO, having stumbled upon similarmicrobial consortium cultures via their own independent routes.

Cultures Obviously Connected with the EM WorldOf the companies which appear to acknowledge some connection with"effective microorganisms"', or EM, at least two of the EM producers

and/or vendors seem to be in California, one in the Pacific Northwest,at least one in the Midwest, and at least one in Florida. Theirproducts apppear to be marketed under various names, including:

Effective Microorganisms, or EMBeneficial Microorganisms, aka BMBenefical and Efficient Microorganisms, aka BEMBeneficial and Effective Microorganisms, aka BEMEM ProbioticEffective Microbes, aka EMMolasses Culture, aka MCBeneficial Deep Soil Microbial Culture (along with some similar names)First, allow me to note that, to my best knowledge, none of thesecompanies use, or have ever used, the trademarked EM·1 or the EM·1logo owned by EMRO. While I have received some verbal reports castingsome doubt on the quality of at least one of the California EMproducts, I have received only good reports about some of the otherEM-like microbial culture inoculant products, and have also seceivedsamples of several such products (from both the USA and from aroundthe world) which I have tested in my labs, most of which were, in myestimation, as effective as the EM produced by EMRO USA, at leastwithin the limited range, scope and conditions of my testing.Somewhat Similar Products Which Contain Consortia of the Phototrophesand Other OrganismsI have in the past year stumbled upon a half-dozen USA producers andvendors of products across the spectrum of:

livestock feed supplementsaquaculture water tratement cultureshigh-end aquarium microbial cultureswaste treatment cultureslivestock waste treatment culturesaerosol barn deodorizer microbial mixesmosquito-eradication microbial cultureNow the notable thing about these vendors is that none of them seem tohave heard of EM or the whole world of EM users. However, upon diggingmore deeply, each of these products from each of the vendors werefounn to contain the same PNSB phototrophic organisms found in EM (andlisted in Dr. Higa's patent), along with anywhere from one to eightother microorganisms, several of which have been named by Dr. Higa aspotential membrs of the EM microbial consortia. Some of thesecompanies and their staffers (including their microbiologists) werequite happy to hear from me and to chat with me, and openly discussedwith me the organisms in their culture products, while others were

extremely cagey and revealed little. One company even generouslyshared with me several research articles and reports which they hadproduced ove the years on their products which contained thephototrophic organisms along with some other organisms.EM Secondary Products from EMRO/EMCOand Other Vendors: Ceramics and MoreEMCO (at one time apparently called EM Solutions Network), a separateentity from EMRO, produces and markets worldwide some EM "secondary"products, all made from EM or EM offshoots, such as EM ceramicproducts, EM-X antioxidant supplement liquid, EM-Z automotive liquid,a bokashi kitchen composting bucket (available in two sizes), EM salt,EM soap, and a few other items. However, to complicate the picture, anumber of Japanese ceramics companies also make EM ceramic productsand other secondary EM products (deodorizing sprays, storagecontainers, and especially nutritional supplement tablets and elixirs)as well, which are largely not marketed through the EMCO channels, butvia other marketing distribution channels to EM Shops in Japan and toother vendors of EM-type products around the world.

Varied EM Products from EMRO and EMCO (formerly EM Solutions Network)marketed in Japan

The EM (or EM-X) CeramicsThere seem to be two separate classes of ceramics fired with EM or EMproducts in them. They are:

ceramics which are claimed to contain EM organisms, and are claimed tostructure water beneficially. This class includes EM Ceramic powderand the newer Super Cera C EM ceramic powder. Now, I have never beenable to understand how the organisms can survive the admitted 1,000 Ffiring temperature, but folks at one EM retail store in the USA haveassured me that the organisms "survive the heat because heat onlyharms bad organisms, not good organisms..." (sic).... (no, I do notbelieve this horseshit; I think things get lost in translationsometimes....) While it is true that the photosynthetic (akaphototropic) bacteria (Rhodopseudomonas capsulata) in EM can likelysurvive up to such temperatures (this information from standardmicrobiological reference manuals such as Berger's), it is highlydoubtful that any of the other species can likewise survive the firingprocess. On the other hand, Dr. Higa has stated that he feels thatthe phototropic organisms are perhaps the most important piece of theEM puzzle, and that they are near-magical in what they do. Theremaining claims about the EM powder, that it can and does

beneficially structure water and will encourage the growth ofbeneficial organisms (and discourage growth of harmful organisms) Ican find quite believable!ceramics which contain only EM-X and some "antioxidant properties"from it; this product may or may not also structure water..... Theseusually have names such as EM-X ceramic powder, or variants. Dr. Higahas further claimed that the EM-X ceramic products (also the EMceramic products, above) can and will transfer or transmit beneficialpatterns, energies and information to water or to other substances inwhich they are suspended (concrete, plaster, compost, animal waste),and thus make for a more beneficial local environment.However, it gets confusing from here on in, since both product typesare offfered in solid shape forms and in powder forms, and somesources in the EM distributor chain also claim that there are "soft"ceramic forms and "hard" ceramic forms, and that the soft ceramicforms must be disposed of (buried) after 6 months of use because they"absorb toxins"..... I get lost about here, folks....I do choose to use a small amount of Super Cera C EM ceramic powder inmaking my batches of Activated EM (AEM). I like the logic the folks atSCD offered as a rationale for doing so:

it helps to structure the waterit imparts other beneficial "information" (energies, patterns) to the waterit encourages the growth of the desirable EM organismit discourages growth of "unfriendly" organismsit acts as a "nucleus" or "center" to which the EM organisms mayattach in liquid mediatheir remining claim, that the (fired) ceramic still contains lots ofthe beneficial EM organisms is one which I do not necessarily chose tobelieve....(see above discussion)Dr. Higa's Patents on EM-related CeramicsDr.Higa holds at least three patents apiece in Japan, the USA andother countries for several methods of incorporating products from theEM organisms and the organism themselves into ceramics which are fired("calcined" is the term used in the patents) to create stable ceramicpowders and solid shapes which may be used to treat water, waste,exhaust gases, and to deodorize air, water and waste.EM-X Antioxidant Liquid SupplementEMCO distributes EM-X antioxidant supplement liquid (and also EM-X-2,a lower-priced and purportedly less-potent version in some parts ofthe world.) Please see the section entitled EM, Antioxidant Activity,and EM-X as well as other sections of this website for furtherinformation on EM-X antioxidant supplement and related products.

EM-W, aka EMW - EM "White" LiquidEMCO distributes EM-W for laundry and varied household utility uses aswell. At least in Japan, the EM stores market a light yellowish"antioxidant" liquid named "EM-W", or "EM White" ,and the intendedpurpose is for use in treating linens and other laundry items, toimpart to them "antioxidant power" and some kind of energy orfrequency which is aparently beneficial. I have heard from two folkswho have used this product, and both claim that it had beneficialeffects, and one claimed that he could "feel" the beneficial energiescoming from his EM-W treated bedsheets and towels.

EM-W is basically a version of EM-1 brewed with simple sugars such ascorn syrup instead of blackstrap molasses. It is primarily marketed inAsia,and its primary market seems to be for laundry use, and to"condition" linens or clothing beneficially. However, since EM-W isrelatively inexpensive, and has a lighter and more appealing color (atleast in Japan) than EM-1, which is brewed with molasses, many folksin Japan reportedly purchase EM-W for drinking purposes inorder toingest it as a nutritional supplement. One caution here is that theshelf life of EM-W seems to be far below that of EM-1, and often onthe order of only a month or two, especially after opening. This isdue to the fact that blackstrap molasses is not used in thefermentation process, and the resultant liquid, while more lightlycolored, seems to be less stable than EM-1. Please see the sectionentitled EM, Antioxidant Activity, and EM-X for further information onEM-X antioxidant supplement and related products.

EM-Z (aka EMZ) Automotive Treatment LiquidEMCO distributes EM-Z for automotive use, and the automotive treatmentpackage consists of two separate products, a small packet of EMceramic shapes, and a bottle of EM-Z liquid, to be used for treatinggas, engine, car and tires. Some rumors have it that EM-Z basically aversion of EM-1, while others have it that EM-Z is a cheaper grade ofEM-X, which was discussed above. Please see the section entitled EM,Antioxidant Activity, and EM-X for further information on EM-Xantioxidant supplement and related products.

EM Nutritional ProductsThe field of nutritional supplement products made with EM is so vastthat it has warranted creation of several sections and articlesdevoted to various aspects of the topic. So, for a bit of insight onthe wide range of human and animal nutritional supplement (dietarysupplement) products brewed with EM, please see any or all of thefollowing sections in this site:

Human Uses -- EM Products for Drinking, BathingEsoteric Human Uses -- EM for Producing Monatomic Elements, Bread, BeerSome Notes on EM Dental Products (yes, it is sold in dental productson the market!)Guidelines on Making EM Brews for Human ConsumptionEM (and EM-X) and Reports of Healing Chronic DiseaseTaking a Look at EM-X: How is it Made?How I Homebrew an EM-X-like Antioxidant BeverageRelevant Patents on EM Products and Related Products in Human Nutrition

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Are You an Intermediate or Advanced Brewer of Activated EM (AEM) or EMBrews Intended for Human Use, and Are You Looking for an Encyclopedicand Comprehensive Guide to Brewing Such Secondary EM Products?The author of this sie, Vinny Pinto, has authored and published anencyclopedic guide and handbook which may help you in brewinghigh-quality EM fermented antioxidant secondary products for human,animal, agricultural, waste and industrial use, particularly ActivatedEM and EM brews for human and animal ingestion. Are you anintermediate or advanced user or technician working with EM, or do youwish to move to the advanced level with ease? This is an e-document inPDF file format containing both basic and advanced information, aimedonly at the intermediate and advanced user, and including recipes,ingredients, methods and techniques, for brewing very-high qualitybatches of EM brews (for human use), Activated EM, aka AEM, EMExtended and EM Secondary Solution, and also hints on making very highquality fermented solid/granular products such as bokashi orEM-fermented grains for animal feed. Also covers the topic of ormuselements in EM. Content goes beyond what I have offered on mywebsites and on the list groups.

The book is entitled Fermentation with Syntropic AntioxidativeMicrobes: An Advanced Guide to Brewing EM Fermented Secondary Products-- an E-book and is available in both e-book and printed/bound format.For further information on this book and on other titles availablefrom the same author (the creator of this website), please go to theE-books, Mini-E-books, Quick Tutorials and Newsletters page on Vinny'smain website by clicking here.

Looking for an E-mail List Group on EM and Health?EM-health e-mail list group at Yahoo Groupshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/EM-health/This e-mail discussion group is devoted to the use of EffectiveMicroorganisms (EM or EM-1) in human and animal health, and relatedtopics such as their use in agriculture to produce food of higherquality, sometimes known as "beyond-organic" or "uber-organic". Thereare already a number of EM fermented antioxidant nutritionalsupplements on the market, with more being developed every day. Thelist welcomes beginners, "consumer users" and also seriousresearchers. This list is moderated by Vinny Pinto, a researcher inthe fields of EM1 and nutritional antioxidants, and a peak healthconsultant/coach. Vinny is a scientist and health researcher who hasdevoted a tremendous amount of time to research on EM and it's uses inhealth and healing,

The EM Culture andthe Organisms in ItCulture Uniformity Across Different Labels (e.g, Agricultural, Waste,Compost, Soil, Septic Labels)You have noticed that I mentioned above, while discussing all thevariant label names for EM microbial inoculant products, such as EMSoil, EM Waste, EM Septic Waste, and EM Agricultural, that they areall exactly the same microbial product, and simply bottled underdifferent labels to satisfy requirements of local regulatory agenciesin various countries . However, there has been a lot of confusion onthis topic, especially in the USA, and the actual story of how Ifinally sorted truth from fact is a bit complex and funny......

One Culture or Several Closely-Related Ones Across Labels?My best understanding of this topic, much as related above, is thatthe various differntiated "usage" labels, such EM Soil, EMWaste, EMSeptic Waste, and EM Agricultural, are are all exactly the samemicrobial product, and simply bottled under different labels tosatisfy requirements of local regulatory agencies in variouscountries. However, it turns out that at varying times in the historyof these labels (again, primarily in the USA) some labels, such as theones marked for waste or septic use, were spiked with extraphototrophic culture, to provide extra quantities of the phototrophicorganisms (which are particularly effective in breaking down waste anddestroying odors. However, I have been assured that even at those

times -- between 1999 and 2002, the culture was essentially the sameacross labels, but that some labels (such as waste) may simply havecontained greater amounts of specific classes of organisms (such asthe phototrophic organisms cited earlier.) Further, it has beenasserted that some (non-EMRO) producers of EM-type cultures, such asone in California, continue to this day to spike their EM batchesintended for waste use with extra amounts of the phototrophicorganisms, due to the efficacy of these organisms in managing odorsand toxins..

By the Way -- Exactly How Many Organisms in EM?EM as produced by EMRO currently contains nine (9) listed species oforganisms in the microbial consortium in the USA regional brew (andfewer for the Hawaiian regional brew), and the current Japaneseregional formula also contains the same nine declared species oforganisms. At one time, there were about 15 primary organisms claimedin the USA regional formula, originally produced and marketed by EMTechnologies, and now produced and marketed by EMRO USA, and the exactnumber may have varied a bit depending on batch.

Yes, I do know that many folks, including staffers at EM retailstores, as well as many EM websites from across the world, haveclaimed that EM contains about 83 species of microorganisms. Somehistory on the matter may help here: back in the early 1980s, when Dr.Higa first developed EM, it did contain far more than the current nineto15 primary organisms found in the culture in many regional formulas,although likely far fewer than 83. However, as Higa and hisresearchers learned more and more about the magic of EM, as welldiscovering the primacy and central role of just a few classes oforganisms, they were able to constantly trim the count of organismsuntil by now most regional versions of EM contain just 15 or fewerprimary organisms. So, as noted above, the official number of primaryorganisms claimed for the current USA regional formula is now justnine (and the same for Japan.) Part of the problem with the number ofspecies may be due to a mis-translation of the first book written byDr. Higa into English, wherein he appeared to state that EM contained83 species of organisms. A more correct translation of his statementwould have been "...one could use up to 83 different species toformulate EM." However, the mis-translation apparently caused manyfolks in the West to start promulgating the story (myth) of 80 to 83primary organisms in EM. Incidentally, I have been informed by folkswho have studied with Dr. Higa that he has since raised the number ofcandidate species for EM from the original count of 83 to somewhereover 130 species.

To read Dr. Higa's own narrative in his words (already referenced onceabove in an earlier section) about how the number of organisms wasgradually winnowed down, you may wish to read the paper presented byDr. Higa at the Royal Agricultural College of UK, entitled THETECHNOLOGY OF EFFECTIVE MICROORGANISMS – CONCEPT AND PHILOSOPHY at anoff-sitepage athttp://www.royagcol.ac.uk/research/conferences/higa.htm

According to the folks at the variuos vendors who produce EM culture,all the primary species present in the EM microbial consortium arewhat is known as “dominant” organisms, meaning that they can entrainand “control” other local environmental organisms, which are morepassive and often open to "entrainment". Further, they seem to form ahardy, robust, and highly adaptable synergistic microbial consortiumwhich is far more robust and adaptable than any of it's memberorganisms alone. Interestingly, biologists for much of the past twohundred years had tended to look at microorganisms only as singlespecies at a time, and it was assumed that this was how they usuallyfunctioned in nature, as independent single species. It is only quiterecently that biologists have come to understand that this earlierassumption of "individualist" species and colonies was amisconception, and that most species of microorganisms are found innature not alone, but rather as part of a cluster or aggretate of fromnine to about 35 synergistic species, for which biologists haveborrowed the term consortium (or consortia, as some authors use it.)

So, What are the Primary Classes of Organisms in EM?While most EM formulations may contain organisms outside thesefamilies as helper organisms, the primary classes of organisms in mostcurrent versions of EM are three, and these are seen as the core of EMmicrobial culture:

lactic-acid bacteriayeastsphototrophic (aka photosynthetic) bacteriaMany regional formulas for EM contain roughly three genus and speciesper group, but this will vary a bit from region to region. Forexample, as mentioned above, the USA regional formula (and also theCanadian formula and Japanese formulations, which are the same)currently claims nine (9) organisms (an earlier version of the formulaclaimed about 15 species, so there were a few other species in the mixas well.) The Japanese EM formula produced by EMRO curently containsthe same 9 organisms, as noted earlier. As noted earlier, the

technology originated in Japan, but the actual cultures for eachreagion are made locally, using only native species of organisms fromthe local region, so there will be some variance in exact species andformula from region to region. Dr. Higa and the EMRO folks have statedrepeatedly that no one regional EM is better than another.In the past, some regional formulas have contained organisms fromother classes as well, such as actinomyces species, aka ray fungi andtrue mold fungi. These may still be found in the regional formulas ina few areas in the world, but are not seen as essential, or primary,organisms in the EM technology, but rather helper organisms. The fullcomplement of species from all five classes of organisms also tends toappear in all of Dr. Higa's patents, wherein his patent(s) specifythat his claim covers using at least five species of organisms, anddrawing at least one species from each of the five classes.

Interestingly, Dr. Higa has pointed out in several lectures that allthree groups of organisms (listed above) have been found throughoutthe history of the human race in fermented foods, although only thefirst two groups (lactic acid bacteria and yests) have traditionallybeen used in Western cultures for food fermentation. It is believedthat the apparent ability of some forms of miso and natto (traditinalJapanese fermented soy foods) is in part due to the antioxidantproducts of fermentation, some believe that may be partially due inparticular to the presence and action of phototrophic bacteria.Incidentally, most phototrophic organisms are anaerobes, meaning thatthey thrive in an anoxygenic environment. Indeed, many species arefound at the bottom of the sea or lake beds, or in deep soil.Phototropic bacteria species will not activate or start andreproducing unless they are exposed to either sunlight or food, orboth. Further, while lactic acid bacteria and yeasts feed voraciouslyon molasses, which is the historically-favored culture media for stockEM and for Activated EM (aka EM Extension) and other EM applications,phototrophic organisms do not thrive well at all on molasses; theyvastly prefer animal waste products, other wastes or even toxic wastesor pollutants (although they can apparently survive on the wastes andother products of yeast and lactic acid bacteria, and even on theyeast themselves -- indeed, that is part of their mutualinterdependence and synergy.)

I have deduced that in EM stock culture and in Activated EM, thephototrophic bacteria survive and grow (if slowly) on the wastes fromthe other two groups of organisms, and can also feed on the yeastthemselves, especially the dead "yeast bodies." So, the phototrophicorganisms are (deliberately) not increased as greatly in population

count (volume) when EM is cultured on molasses, but rather staysomewhat dormant, awaiting a wake-up call by exposure to either a goodlight source or to a good food (again, their idea of food is waste andtoxic waste...) This will often happen only when EM encounters wasteproducts, as when diluted Activated EM comes into contact with animalwastes, soil, toxins, or sunlight (or both!) Further, while the firsttwo families of organisms produce a brew which is very clean-smelling,with a fresh, sweet and sour smell and taste, phototrophic organisms,if present and active in very large quantities, may (not always)produce a bit of a "low-tide" sulfur smell or taste, or the slightlybitter smell and taste of butyric acid (a harmless and healthfulantioxidant found in butter, which gives butter it's characteristicflavor.)

What is in EM2, EM3 and EM4?We related above that the three primary groups of organisms in EM areyeasts, phototrophic bacteria, and lactic acid bacteria. It sohappens that EM2 contains only the yeasts and related organisms, EM3contains only the phototrophic bacteria and related organisms, and EM4contains only the lactic acid bacteria and related organisms. EM issimply a combination of EM2, EM3 and EM4 all in one formula.

What Are the Exact Names of the Organisms in EM, and Exactly What Does Each Do?A lot of folks new to EM seem to become obsessed with one or the otherof these questions, asking to know more than simply the names andfunctions of the three general groups of organisms, which are:

lactic acid bacteria, aka LAByeastsphototrophic bacteriaand wish, instead, to know the names of each individual species....For the USA regional EM microbial inoculant, which currently containsnine (9) claimed primary organisms, the exact species claimed in theformula are shown below. Incidentally, at this time, the Japaneseformula for EM as produced by EM Laboratory for EMRO Japan (pleaserecall that there are plenty of other producers of EM culture in theworld as well) consists of the same nine organisms. The organisms arelisted below, broken into classes:

Lactic acid bacteria (these are beneficial organisms widely found infermented foods, and in the GI tract of healthy humans and animals):Lactobacillus plantarumLactobacillus caseiLactobacillus fermentum

Lactobacillus salivariusLactobacillus delbrueckiiPhototrophic purple non-sulfur bacteria, aka PNSB (these are widelyfound in ponds, soil, on plant leaves, in ice, snow and in icicles):Rhodopseudomonas palustrisRhodobacter sphaeroides (aka R. spheroides)Rhodobacter capsulatusYeast:Saccharomyces cerevisiae (these are beneficial organisms widely foundin fermented foods, and in the GI tract of healthy humans and animals)As breifly referenced above, EM formulations in the past have alsoincluded other organisms than those listed above, such as:phototrophic bacteria other than the three named above, includingRhodospirillum rubrumbeneficial (non-pathogenic) members of the order Acetomycetes, akaActinomycetales, such as Streptomyces and other so-called ray fungi,which are really a soil bacteria which happen to look like fungi(incidentally, it is many members of the Actinomycetes order whichproduce metabolites which are responsible for the musty, mildewey odorof old damp basements and the aged caskets favored by elderly vampiresfrom the dark nether regins of Europe and Russia.....)a number of websites and even older labels from EM formulations haveclaimed that some regional versions of EM have contained "actinomyces"(or, alternately, spelled as "actinomycets"), which is one familywithin the order Actinomycetales (mentioned above), but I suspect thatthey may not have meant the family Actinomyces, but rather the broaderorder name Actinomycetales (aka Actinomycetes), which would includethe Streptomyces and other so-called ray fungi already mentionedabove.beneficial yeasts other than S. cerivisiae, such as Candida utilisother lactic acid bacteria than the five species named abovebeneficial members of the Streptococcus bacterial family, such as S.lactis or S. thermophilus; these are normal and beneficial members ofthe gut flora in humans and animalsbeneficial members of the Streptomyces family (one of the so-calledray fungi), such as S. albus and S. griseusbeneficial members of the Propionibacterium family; these are normaland beneficial members of the gut flora in humans and animalsfungi (although there has sometimes been some confusion here, on thepart of authors of some of these citations, with ray fungi, which arereally a bacteria). Nonetheless, various EM formulas have containedfungi, usually representative sepcies such as Aspergillus oryzae andMucor hiemalis.There is also some evidence that some EM formulations may have

included beneficial species from the following families or groups:Leuconostoc, a family of lactic acid bacteriamembers of the Bifidobacterium family (bifidobacteria, like lacticacid bacteria and S. cerivisiae yeast, are beneficial organismsnormally found in the GI tract flora of healthy humans and animals).This particular possibility is the least verified and leastverifiable, and the hypothesis may well turn out to be specious.My own sense, much as what Dr. Higa relates, is that the exact speciesand names in EM formulations are not very important, but, rather, itis the synergy and relationship (interdependence) between them whichis important.The Larger List of Classes and Species of Organisms for Dr. Higa's PatentsIn light of the discussion above, it may be useful to briefly examinethe larger, more inclusive list of possible candidate classes oforganisms and the candidate species within them which Dr. Higa haspublished in some of his patents. The list follows:

The patents specify that the microbial consortium must consist of atleast five species of organisms, with at lest one species drawn fromeach of five general classes of organisms. The five general classesof organisms are:

lactic acid bacteriayeastsphototrophic organismsActinomycetes (aka ray fungi, but really bacteria)mold fungiSpecific Species Suggested in the PatentsPlease note that in the lists below, all codes appearing inparentheses with an ATCC or IFO prefix indicate the exact catalognumber for the species/subspecies at a culture bank, or in awell-known database or culture catalog; e.g., ATCC indicates "AmericanType Culture Collection", while IFO denotes the IFO microbial databasemaintained by the Institute for Fermentation, Osaka (Japan).Lactic acid bacteria include for example microorganisms belonging toLactobacillus, Propionibacterium, Pediococcus and Streptococcus.Specific examples of lactic acid bacteria include Lactobacillusbulgaricus (e.g. ATCC 11842) , Propionibacterium freudenreichii (e.g.IFO 12391), Pediococcus halophilus (e.g. IFO 12172), Streptococcuslactis (e.g. IFO 12007) and Streptococcus faecalis (e.g. IFO 3971).Yeast include for example microorganisms belonging to Saccharomycesand Candida. Specific examples of these yeast include Saccharomycescerevisiae (e.g. IFO 0304), Saccharomyces lactis (e.g. IFO 0433) andCandida utilis (e.g. IFO 0396).

Phototrophic bacteria include for example microorganisms belonging toRhodopseudomonas, Rhodospirillum, Chromatium, and Chlorobium. Specificexamples of phototrophic bacteria include Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides(e.g. IFO 12203), Rhodospirillum rubrum (e.g. IFO 3986), Chromatiumokenii and Chlorobium limicola. Please note that the family nameRhodobacter is often used interchangeably with the fmaily nameRhodopseudomonas, and hence they might be considered interchangeablemix-and-match family prefixes.

Actinomycetes include for example microorganisms belonging toStreptomyces, Streptoverticillium, Nocardia, Micromonospora andRhodococcus. Specific examples of actinomycetes include Streptomycesalbus (e.g. ATCC 3004), Streptoverticillium baldaccii (e.g. ATCC23654), Nocardia asteroides (e.g. ATCC 19247 ), Micromonospora chalcea( e. g. ATCC 12452) and Rhodococcus rhodochrous (e.g. ATCC 13803).

Mold fungi include for example microorganisms belonging to Aspergillusand Mucor. Specific examples of these mold fungi include Aspergillusjaponicus (e.g. IFO 4060), Aspergillus oryzae (e.g. IFO 4075) andMucor hiemalis (e.g. IFO 5303).

Lastly, as already stated in the Are Effective Microorganisms (EM·1)Patented, Trademarked or Registered? section on the first page of thisEM Info website, the patent numbers and titles for Dr. Higa's USpatents related to EM are:5,707,856 Microbiological method for disposing of organic waste materials5,698,028 Composition and process for improving soil5,683,951 Composition and process for improving water quality and fuel5,683,665 Composition and process for cleansing exhaust gas5,683,664 Composition and process for deodorizing an odor5,602,065 Process for preparing functional ceramics5,591,634 Microbiological method for disposing of organic waste materials5,521,131 Functional ceramicsA Model for the Synergistic Microbial ConsortiumIn any case, Dr. Higa and others who have gained long familiarity withEM have long assured people that it is not so much the exact speciesof the organisms which are important, but rather, the folowing pointsare highly important, and overshadow anything else:the interdependence and mutuality of the organismsthe diversity and synergy of the organismsDr. Higa and the EMRO organizations sometimes borrow from the oldclassical physics nuclear model of the atom to illustrate the natureof the relationship betwen the organisms in EM. Please see the imagebelow:

In this clasical "nucleus/orbital" atomic model, the lactic acidbacteria are seen as providing literally a safe environment or"housing" for the other two groups of organisms, as do the yeasts tosome extent as well, so each of these is shown as occupying a "shell"around the nucleus, which is the phototrophic organisms. Thephototrophic bacteria are seen as rather dependent upon the two typesof organisms in the shells to provide the necesary conditions tosurvive and thrive, but, on the other hand, they also provide vitalnutrients to the organism in these shells. The reason thephototrophics occupy a position in the center is not only because theyare protected and nurtured by the shell organisms, but because theyare the "heart" of much of the magic of EM: they provide a reducing(meaning electron-donor, versus oxidative) environment, replete withreadily-available hydrogen in the form of dissolved gases and varioushydrogen ions (including hydride species), and marked by a relativelylow ORP (oxidation-reduction potential), which, along with othersecretions of the phototrohics, enable the trio of groups todeomompose organic materials in a reducing manner, rather than anoxidizing manner. The three types of organisms work together to helpeach other digest a wide range of materials and to produce a widerange of antioxidants and nutrients.

Dr. Higa has also expressed his opinion that the phototrophicorganisms are literally "nuclear-powered" (something may have beenlost in translation, but some of the idea comes through...!) and thatthe phototrophics emit certain kinds of frequencies or energies whichaffect nearby organisms and matter, and can have a profound effect in"regulating" or encouraging nearby bio-chemical processes to proceedin a beneficial, or reducing (antioxidative, as opposed to oxidative)manner.

Another Perspective on the Cultures in EMMatthew Wood, co-founder of SCD, aka SCD World, a vendor of EMproducts and consultancy for the same (their website may be found athttp://www.scdworld.com ) studied in Japan with Dr. Higa, and in arecent letter, described his own view of the matter of the EM cultureand the species found in it:

[excerpted from a letter from Matthew Wood, co-founder of SCD:]"Comments on the question, "what organisms are in EM?":This is a very difficult question to answer.

First of all, EM is produced using different methods, different raw

materials, different equipment and different environments in manydifferent countries. Therefore, the actual groups of organisms in EMare different in many different countries. They are even differenfrom batch to batch from the same manufacturing facility. Somecritics say this is a problem for EM, because it can produceinconsistent results. However, Dr. Higa teaches that there are manyspecies of organisms that, if combined in a specific way, can create amixed culture that will have similar effects of EM. He teaches thatthe "key" is to have a combined culture containing beneficial lacticacid bacteria, beneficial yeasts and beneficial phototrophic bacteria. This is "EM". For example, in Dr. Higa's patents, he lists many manyspeciesthat could be used to represent these three key groups.

EM is "officially" manufactured in Japan by two companies and"unofficially" manufactured by at least one other company. Each ofthese companies produce distinctly different EM-1, EM-2 and EM-3.Many variables are different among the methods of the differentgroups. Yet, Dr. Higa teaches that they are "functionally" allsimilar. Many people prefer the EM-1 manufactured by EM Laboratory.This company is a part of the International Nature Farming ResearchCenter (INFRC). This is not an organization started, owned orcontrolled by the EM Research Organization (EMRO). However, EMRO hasa "Know-How" agreement with INFRC so that they will receive a royaltyfor the use of Dr. Higa's technology. In fact, INFRC has been aroundfor much longer than EMRO. INFRC was started, and iscontrolled by, Sekai Kyusei Kyo (SKK), which is areligious/philosophical organization founded on the teachings ofMokichi Okada. Another branch of the SKK religion is Mokichi OkadaAssociation (MOA). SKK, through INFRC, is what launched EM technologyto the world during the mid to late 1980's.This occurred because one of Dr. Higa's students (who was studying EM)was a member of SKK and introduced Dr. Higa and EM to SKK as a toolthat fit their philosophy and could be used in "Nature Farming". EMROwas not founded until somewhere around 1994.

Now, back to the organisms in EM. It is as much about the process, asit is about the organisms themselves. Dr. Higa teaches that theprocess will ensure that only "beneficial" organisms survive.

Most, if not all, manufacturers of EM do not grow EM from "pureculture". They do not grow EM in a sterile environment and they do notuse sterile media. So, the dominant species can "drift" over time,largely effected by the substrates used. For example, one of the

materials often used is fish emulsion (basically ground up fishparts). If this is pasteurized before using as a culture media, itwill not contribute many organisms (depends on how it is"pasteurized"). However, if it is not paseurized, the species oforganisms living on that batch of fish guts will likely grow and bepresent in EM, if they can survive the process and compliment theother beneficials in "seed EM". As you may imagine, this makes EM-1 a"nightmare" to manage for regulatory and labelling issues. It alsomeans that many of the EMlabels from around the world are often not accurate.

Some of the more advanced producers of EM, such as EM Laboratory inJapan, will regularly "spike" their batches with species from pureculture. They call this "renewing" the cultures. This is probablythe best way to maintain consistency (certain species always presentin predictable populations), while also getting the species richnessobtained from purposely not growing in pure culture. Dr. Higa taughthis students that EM made from pure culture is not as effective as EMmade naturally from high quality ingredients.

I have taken EM from different manufacturers and had it cultured outon various media, purified to pure culture and then identified eachdifferent species. They have never matched the species on the labelsor in the literature.

It is because of these issues that many manufacturers have decided notto put species on the label. The less specific they can be, the lesschance of "misbranding".

It can also be noted that because of these complex issues (onlysummarized here), there is no accurate and up to date patent on EM. Ithink this is because there are so many versions of what isfunctionally the same thing.

Our company, Sustainable Community Development, LLC (SCD) iscommitted to providing as much information about EM technology as wecan afford to. Actually we have hundreds of research papers, casestudies and reports on file in our office. Unfortunately, we have nothad the resources yet toscan all of this and make them available to the public.

When looking for EM products, please consider buying from our smallgrassroots company. Your purchase from us support our effort toprovide education, research and development with EM technology. You

can buy products from our on-line store at www.emtrading.com.

If you have EM products to sell, please send us an email. We may behappy to offer your EM product at our on-line store." [end of excerptfrom letter by Matthew Wood]

Can I Stop Buying EM Stock Inoculant After My First Batch and JustKeep Making Serial Batches of Activated EM (aka EM Extension?)Incidentally, the above discourse also illustrates why you cannotsimply extend or re-activate EM forever by simply making a string ofnever-ending serial batches of Activated EM with molasses. While thelactic acid organisms and/or the yeast may survive and thrive well(assuming that other stray organisms do not eventually contaminate theculture) across successive serial "activations", some of the helperorganisms, along with the phototrophic organisms may not be allowed toawaken and reproduce efficiently or sufficiently,, and thus may suffersuccessive serial attrition or attenuation, to the detriment of thewhole culture, if you attempt to continually serially "extend"consecutive batches of Activated EM (AEM.)So, How, Then, is EM Brewed at the Production Facilities?EM is not simply cultured from a batch of older EM on molasses andwater, as is done with Activated EM. Rather, to ensure the purity andcount of all the species of organisms, EM is separately brewed inthree vats, one each for:

EM2, which is the yeastsEM3, which is the phototrophic organismsEM4, which consists of lactic acid bacteria(these three "sub-cultures" are the three component groups comprisingEM) each with its own nutrients (for example, the vat of phototrophicorganisms does not use molasses as a nutrient, but rather a moresuitable foodstuff for such organisms, and the yeasts do not feed onmolasses alone.) When these three batches are complete, they are themixed in a vat in a pre-determined ratio to form EM stock, which isthen cultured as a synergistic culture with water and molasses (and afew minor ingredients) prior to bottling, distribution and sale.The Secrets of the Various Dilutions and Ratios:Are the Dilutions (such as 1:1:100 or 1:1:1,000) as Powerful asActivated EM (at 1:1:20)?How Long Do the Dilutions with Molasses Stay Potent and Viable?Why Does My Activated EM Have an Effective Life of 30 Days, While EMStock Culture is Claimed to Have a Useful Lifetime (Viability) of 6Months?

The above three questions were lumped together because they areintimately inter-related and their answers even moreso. It is truethat for various applications (animal water, spraying soil, compost orwaste, etc.) varied dilutions of Activated EM are often used, eitheralone with water at ratios from 1:20 (Activated to Water) to 1:1,000or more, or with molasses and water, again at ratios from 1:1:20(Activated to Molaesses to Water) to perhaps 1:6,000 or more. It isonly natural that questions arise as to the stength of thesedilutions, the lifetime, and also the shelf life of EM1 stockinoculant. Please see the full section below with the same title asabove for some answers.....!

So, Can I Just Tinker at Home with Local Decay Organisms and Create MyOwn Version of EM?This feat is nearly impossible, unless you were a trainedmicrobiologist (and horticulturist!) with a good laboratory and goodbrewing equipment. Although I have heard of people who have tired toaccomplish this, using sourdough cultures (you see, all sourdoughcultures consist of a symbiotic and synergistic relationship betwen aunique species of lactic acid bacteria and a unique strain of yeast)and some liquid from compost buckets, I have never heard of anyonesucceeding.... All ended up eventually purchasing EM stock microbialinoculant.

On the other hand, there are hundreds of other brands and types ofmicrobial inoculant products (for waste treatment and/or soiltreatment, for example) now on the market. Dr. Higa has said thatthere is nothing wrong with any of them, and that the best approachwould be to mix them all together (including EM) to harness the fullpower of all the organisms.

Is EM Organically Certified? -- OMRI Certified?EM is organic certified, but some explanation is needed. Severalversions (labels; only those where such certification is even needed,based upon application on the farm) of EM are certified as a suitablematerial certified for organic farming by Organic Materials ResearchInstitute (OMRI). A microbial culture such as EM cannot ever initself be certified as organic, since it is not sold as a humanfoodstuff. Rather, it can only be certified as a safe or suitablematerial for organic farming. By the way, the certification by OMRIautomatically certifies that EM is non-GMO (non-genetically modified.)

These last three frequently asked questions (FAQs) are reproduced fromthe earlier section (on an earlier page) entitled "Debunking a Few EM

Myths; A Brief FAQ", simply because they are apropos to theflora/culture section as well...... Enjoy!

Is the EM Formula For one Region Better than the EM for Another?There is indeed some variance in the exact EM formula and theorganisms within it from region to region and vendor to vendor, as ituses primarily only native local flora indigenous to the region.However, it appears to me that there is usually no essentialdifference in effectiveness of EM across regions or vendors. Eachcontains primary organisms from the same three main groups oforganisms, and each is effective.

When Brewing Activated EM (aka EM Extension) is Low pH Really Important?Is it True that the Lower the pH, the Better my Batch of EM or Activated EM?

For use as a microbial inoculantFor using Activated EM (aka EM Extension), it is NOT true that areally low pH, such as 3.7 or below, is important, or that a low pHmeans that the batch is better than another with a higher pH. This islargely a myth, particularly as regards the viability of the microbialinoculant culture. This myth got started in the USA about 10 yearsago, and has been really hard to dispel. It is simply not true. Anybatch of EM or Activated EM with a pH of 4.0 or below is likely fineto use as a microbial culture, so long as it is not too old, and pHshould never be the main criteria by which the viability anduseability of a batch of EM or AEM is judged. Rather, appearance,smell (and taste, in many parts of the world!) are the primary meansof gauging whether a batch is good (as well as a microscopic analysisfor a more detailed examination....). Having said that, it i smy ownpersonal beleif that the lower the pH, at lesat down to the 3.3 or 3.2range, the more powerful are certain properties of the eM ; this willbe discussed later.

For use as an antioxidant or nutrientPlease note that the discussion above applied primarily to use of EMas a microbial inoculant culture, as in starting bokashi, for feedingto animals, or for treating livestock drinking water, compost orsoils, or, in other words, use a microbial inoculant or seed culturewhich will eventually spawn microbes which will release antioxidants.On the other hand, if the intended use of Activated EM (aka AEM) isfor use as an antioxidant or a nutrient, such as in the followinguses:

room deodorizer spray

underarm deodorantlivestock barn deodorizer spraydeodorizer for smelly pondsrust removaluse as a nutritional antioxidant for livestock or human consumptionthen it is true that the lower the pH, the stronger will be theconcentration of antioxidants, as the lower-pH brews will havefermented longer, allowing a greater concentration of antioxidants.Further, stronger concentrations than the commonly-used 1:20 ratio ofmolasses to water will also allow stronger concentrations ofantioxidants; I often use well-aged AEM-like concentrations as strongas 1:3 for certain applications where the antioxidant properties areimportant.Is EM a Disinfectant?EM is not a disinfectant, but a microbial inoculant culture product.While it may eventually help to displace harmful or non-beneficialmicroorganisms in many areas and applications, it is not true that itis a disinfectant. It will also often discourage fungal diseases oflawns (golf courses, etc.) such as Fusarium, in one or two treatments,but that simply means that it is doing it's job as a source ofbeneficial organisms and in promoting a healthier flora within thesoil. It is a powerful deodorizer and rust remover, and it is possiblethat these properties led folks to believe that it was also adisinfectant.

It is also true that some commercially-available dental mouth careproducts, such as mouthwash and dental (tooth brushing) powder,contain EM organisms, and that lots of folks in many countries simplymake their own such products from EM and related products. However,this is once again NOT proof that EM is a disinfectant or antibiotic.Rather, in the case of dental or mouth care use, their presence is asthat of a strong probiotic (beneficial organisms) to compete withharmful organisms, and because of the powerful antioxidant activity ofthe EM organisms. This myth about EM being a disinfectant apparentlygot started in the USA about 10 years ago, and has been really hard todispel. It is simply not true.

It is true in many soil and water applications, and even whenfermenting nutritonal supplements, that the presence and fermentationactivity of EM organisms may strongly discourage the growth orproliferation of undesirable or harmful microorganisms, but this ismerely a regulatory activity or entrainment property, and is not thesame as disinfectant activity.

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Commercially-available EM-Fermented Antioxidant NutritionalSupplements for HumansThere are now several EM-fermented antioxidant nutritional suplementproducts (mostly liquid brews/beverages) available on the market, evenin the Western world, and including the USA. To see a fulldescription of each of which I am aware, including availability,pricing,and where/how to get them, along with links to relevant vendorweb pages, click here to go to the Related Fermented Products on theMarket page at the Antiox Brew Website, at http://www.antioxbrew.com.

The author of this site is a degreed scientist with extensive trainingin the fields of health and well-being, a mystic and a healer, and theAntiox Brew website linked above contains a tremendous amount ofinformation on a line of several fermented antioxidant nutritionalsupplement brews using a microbial culture derived from the EffectiveMicroorganisms culture (aka EM-1 or EM1 or EM) which weredirect-marketed on a very small scale at one point during early 2003to friends and acquaintances under the brand names Sootheox andQuenchox. To learn more about these custom-crafted nutritionalsupplement brews and some of their nutritional properties, includingresults of antioxidant tests from commercial third-party antioxidanttesting laboratories (along with some funny [but true] photos of theability of such antioxidant supplements to remove rust from rustediron), please see the Antiox Brew Website, athttp://www.antioxbrew.com.

Looking for an E-mail List Group on EM and Health?EM-health e-mail list group at Yahoo Groupshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/EM-health/This e-mail discussion group is devoted to the use of EffectiveMicroorganisms (EM or EM-1) in human and animal health, and relatedtopics such as their use in agriculture to produce food of higherquality, sometimes known as "beyond-organic" or "uber-organic". Thereare already a number of EM fermented antioxidant nutritionalsupplements on the market, with more being developed every day. Thelist welcomes beginners, "consumer users" and also seriousresearchers. This list is moderated by Vinny Pinto, a researcher inthe fields of EM1 and nutritional antioxidants, and a peak healthconsultant/coach. Vinny is a scientist and health researcher who hasdevoted a tremendous amount of time to research on EM and it's uses in

health and healing,

Discounted Sources for Ordering EM Products(EM culture, EM-X, EM Ceramics, etc.) andEM Fermentation SuppliesIf you are in the USA or nearby countries, and you wish to purchase EMproducts such as EM microbial inoculant culture, EM fermentingsupplies, bokashi, EM-X health beverage, EM Ceramics, EM Salt, or EMSoap, at a discounted price, please check out the two major vendorslisted below:

EMRO USAEMRO USA is an EMRO licensee of EMRO Japan, and is located in Phoenix, Arizona.Discount: If you wish to earn a 5% discount on all products, pleaseuse the discount code VPEbookOrder through James Harrison, who is an EMRO CEMPWebsite: http://www.emrousa.comOr contact James Harrison, who is an EMRO Certified EM Provider (CEMP), at:James Harrison's phone: 978-356-7440 (SA)e-mail: jharrison@cemp.emrousa.com

SCD WorldSCD World is a marketing outreach of Sustainable Community Development(SCD) in Kansas (in the USA), they also carry several lines of EMfermented antioxidant nutritional supplement beverages, as well as thecomplete Garden of Life line.Website: http://www.scdworld.comphone: 913-541-9299 (USA)Discount: If you wish to earn a 7% discount on all products, pleaseuse the discount code VP2004

Are You an Intermediate or Advanced Brewer of Activated EM (AEM) or EMBrews Intended for Human Use, and Are You Looking for an Encyclopedicand Comprehensive Guide to Brewing Such Secondary EM Products?The author of this sie, Vinny Pinto, has authored and published anencyclopedic guide and handbook which may help you in brewinghigh-quality EM fermented antioxidant secondary products for human,animal, agricultural, waste and industrial use, particularly ActivatedEM and EM brews for human and animal ingestion. Are you anintermediate or advanced user or technician working with EM, or do you

wish to move to the advanced level with ease? This is an e-document inPDF file format containing both basic and advanced information, aimedonly at the intermediate and advanced user, and including recipes,ingredients, methods and techniques, for brewing very-high qualitybatches of EM brews (for human use), Activated EM, aka AEM, EMExtended and EM Secondary Solution, and also hints on making very highquality fermented solid/granular products such as bokashi orEM-fermented grains for animal feed. Also covers the topic of ormuselements in EM. Content goes beyond what I have offered on mywebsites and on the list groups.

The book is entitled Fermentation with Syntropic AntioxidativeMicrobes: An Advanced Guide to Brewing EM Fermented Secondary Products-- an E-book and is available in both e-book and printed/bound format.For further information on this book and on other titles availablefrom the same author (the creator of this website), please go to theE-books, Mini-E-books, Quick Tutorials and Newsletters page on Vinny'smain website by clicking here.

The Secrets of the Various Dilutions and Ratios:

Are the Dilutions (such as 1:1:100 or 1:1:1,000) as Powerful asActivated EM (at 1:1:20)?

How Long Do the Dilutions with Molasses Stay Potent and Viable?

BasicsA molasses:culture:water ratio of 1:1:20 is quite standard nowadaysfor AEM around the world, but different ratios have been used as thenorm at times. At one time in the USA, much AEM was made at a 1:1:10ratio, and there seems to be a trend in Japan to use ratios in the1:40 range rather than the 1:20 range which seems to be common for AEMin much of the rest of the world, even for batches of AEM made formany uses other than human nutritional use. Indeed, there is acommercially-available Active EM (AEM) automated fermenting machine(aka Activated EM Machine or Automatic Activated EM Machine) availablevia EMRO and affiliates in Japan which sells in the $3,000 pricerange, and normally employs an even more dilute ratio of EM1 andmolasses to water . It makes somewhere between about 25 to 45 gallonsof AEM at a time (I forget the exact volume), and makes it at a(normally) preset ratio of 1:5:200 (1 part EM, 5 parts molasses, about194 parts water), or, in some versons, 2:4:190. The machine featuresautomatic circulation of the fermenting fluid every 15 minutes, and

ferments the mixture at 38 degrees C; the AEM usually takes 3 to 4days to finish. The intended market for the Automatic Activated EMmachine is farms, waste facilities and composting operations, whichwill usually use the AEM within a few days (while it is still potentas a microbial inoculant culture.) In general, any batch of AEM madeat a higher dilution ratio than 1:35 (such as 1:40, 1:100, etc.) mustbe used within hours or days of being mixed, and only batches with aratio of 1:35 or less will exhibit appreciable shelf life.

Why Does My Activated EM Have an Effective Life of 30 Days, While EMStock Culture is Claimed to Have a Useful Lifetime (Viability) of 6Months?The above three questions were lumped together because they areintimately inter-related and their answers even moreso. It is truethat for various applications (animal water, spraying soil, compost orwaste, etc.) varied dilutions of Activated EM are often used, eitheralone with water at ratios from 1:20 (Activated to Water) to 1:1,000or more, or with molasses and water, again at ratios from 1:1:20(Activated to Molaesses to Water) to perhaps 1:6,000 or more. It isonly natural that questions arise as to the stength of thesedilutions, the lifetime, and also the shelf life of EM1 stockinoculant.

Here are some quick guidelines...

EM or Activated EM (aka AEM) may be mixed with water and molasses inalmost any ratio from 1:1:1 to 1:1:10,000. However, any batch of AEMmade at a higher dilution ratio than 1:35 (such as 1:40, 1:100, etc.)must be used within hours or days of being mixed, and only batcheswith a ratio of 1:35 or less will exhibit appreciable shelf life

In general, with little variance, the microbial strength (e.g., thecount of organisms per unit volume) is very similar durng the viable(e.g. alive) stages for any dilutions discussed above. What doesdiffer, and differs radically, is how long the solutions remain viable-- in other words, how long all three groups of organisms remain aliveand effective. At the higher dilutions, such as 1:1: 1,000 or even1:1:100, the shelf-life of the liquid will be rather short, and hence,the dilution culture solution it must be applied to orgnic materialsrathe quickly,or it will be largely "dead". For example, a roughtimetable of effective lifetime of dilutions appears below (all ratiosexpress ratio of EM1 (or Activated EM) to molasses to water):

Ratio Approx. viable life-timeNotesplease note that under optimal conditions, the viable culture lifetimeof the 1:20 and stronger mixtures may be fare longer, and under badconditons, even shorter than those shown1:1:10 about 60+ days1:1:20 about 30 days this is the ratio we normally use for ActivatedEM, although we are free to use stronger concentrations1:1:40 about 15 days1:1:60 about 10 days1:1:80 about 7 days1:1:100 about 6 days1:1:200 about 3 days1:1:500 about 1+ dayIt is also true that some applications for Activated EM call for theActivated EM (AEM) to be diluted with only water (skippig themolasses), perhaps at a rate of 1:400 to 1:5,000 for variousapplications where it will be used immediately. In this case, since noadditional molasses is added, there will be only very little reservefood left for the organisms -- basically, only any molasses as yetundigested from the AEM -- and thus the mixture must be applied toorganic material (foodstuffs, waste, soil, etc.) within a day or lessbefore the organisms start to go dormant and die from lack of food.So for each of these dilution ratios, the shelf-life will be even farshorter than those given in the table above.

Well, looking at the above, we have already answered the first twoquestions, plus some, and we are well on our way to answering thefinal question, about the apparent 6-month shelf life of EM1 sotckculture....

The EM stock culture can claim an active shelf life of about 6 monthsfor the following reasons:

it is a first-generation (aka 1G) culturethe 1G culture was created from high-purity materials (water,molasses), and only pure starter strainsthe 1G culture was brewed carefully under optimal and controlledconditions to ensure culture puritythe culture molasses used is almost always blackstrap molasses, whichhas less available simpel sugars, and is therefore, "slower andsteadier"due to the factors above and the extra foods (from the molasses) the

lifetime of the stock solution can be 6 months (and sometimes longer,although this is never claimed by EMRO)In reality, your bottle of EM-1 stock inoculant culture may actually beviable for up to two years after you purchase it, dependent upon howit was stored, etc. The 6-month expiration date stamped on your bottleby the EMRO folks is simply a very conservative estimate.About the AuthorIf you wish to learn more about the author, please click here!

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Donations and SupportThis educational, public-service website has been totallyself-supported by the author since it's inception in October 2000. Ihave considered banner ads, paid text ads, and other commercialadvertising means to help support this site, but, frankly, all offendme and would not be in keeping with the spirit of the community Iintend to support. Therfore, I am now actively asking donations tohelp me to support this site -- even two dollars helps! If you wishto donate, you may do so by using your credit card, ATM card, debitcard, or transfer from your bank account, via fully secure means,using either Amazon Honor System or Paypal . To make a donation,please go to the Donations and Support page ! All transactions aresecure; in all cases, you get to choose the donation amount!

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