Aspergillus oryzae has apparently been an essential part of oriental food production for centuries and is now used in the production of many different oriental foods such as soy sauce, sake and miso. Potential uses under (the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Substances Control Act) include fermentations of numerous enzymes, e.g., amylase, protease, B-galactosidase, lipase, and cellulase, and organic compounds such as glutamic acid. While these products have a variety of potential commercial uses, some of them are mostly frequently used in food processing.

The experience of safe commercial use of A. oryzae is extraordinarily well established. As a "koji" mold it has been used safely in the food industry for several hundred years. A. oryzae is also used to produce livestock probiotic feed supplements. Even the commercialization of byproducts of the fermentation was established nearly a century ago. The "koji" mold enzymes were among the first to be isolated and commercialized. In 1894, Dr. J. Takamine isolated and sold Takadiastase from a commercial firm he started in Clifton, New Jersey (Bennett, 1985a).