Exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by bacterial cultures has a long history of usage in cultured dairy products such as yogurt for improving their texture and providing some of the unique attributes of these traditional foods. Depending of the organism that produces the EPS, the EPS material can be retained around the cell as a capsule or released into the surrounding medium. In some cases, the released EPS can form into clumps and strands of EPS and are these are considered to be ropey cultures. Investigations into use of capsular EPS+ cultures in cheese making became of interest 25 years ago as a means of improving the texture of low-fat cheeses and this still continues to be an area of research related to many different types of cheeses. A prime effect of using EPS+ cultures is the greater retention of moisture in low-fat cheeses either from using EPS+ starter cultures or by direct addition of an EPS mass into the cheese milk before renneting. Understanding the effect of EPS on both rennet and acid coagulated foods has depended on studies of the product’s microstructure using electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The functional effects of inclusion of EPS into cheese and yogurt depends on the intrinsic chemical nature of the EPS such as sugar composition, extent of branching and charge. This presentation reviews recent findings related to biostructural analysis of fermented dairy foods containing EPS from a variety of EPS+ bacterial species.