A .beta.-glucan-containing composition which contains .beta.-glucanoriginating in a microorganism or a basidiomycete. Using the .beta.-glucan-containing composition, .beta.-glucan can be uniformly dispersed in a foodwithout worsening the texture, taste, etc. of the food. A novel microorganismcapable of efficiently producing .beta.-glucan, which has a high activity andfavorable qualities and is usable as the microorganism-origin .beta.-glucan asdescribed above, at a high production speed from less expensive saccharidessuch as sucrose.
