The popularity of fermented foods and beverages is due to their enhanced shelf-life, safety, functionality, sensory, and nutritional properties. The latter includes the presence of bioactive molecules, vitamins, and other constituents present in the initial food substrates. Many fermented foods also contain live microorganisms that may provide gastrointestinal and other health benefits. The number of organisms in fermented foods depends on how they were manufactured and processed, as well as conditions and duration of storage. In this review, we surveyed studies in which lactic acid and other relevant bacteria were enumerated from the most commonly consumed fermented foods, including cultured dairy products, cheese, fermented sausage, fermented vegetables, and soy-fermented foods. Most of the reported data were based on retail food samples, rather than experimentally produced products made on a laboratory scale. Results indicated that many of these fermented foods contained 10^5–7 lactic acid bacteria per mL or gram, although there was considerable variation based on region and sampling time. In general, cultured dairy products consistently contained higher levels, up to 10⁹/g. Collectively, the findings from this survey revealed that many fermented foods are a good source of live lactic acid bacteria, including species that reportedly provide human health benefits.