Fermentation—allowing beneficial or benign organisms to grow in food to prevent destructive or toxic ones from growing, with respect to meat, has been around for thousands of years. This is evident in the presence of various types of sausages found globally. Also, environmental conditions dictate what food processes are used, as seen in the Mediterranean and southern Europe, where "meat products are dried to lower water activity (Aw) values, taking advantage of the long dry and sunny days, while in northern Europe, fermented sausages require smoking for further preservation."