* Please note that this blog remains up as a resource. However, this blog is currently on hiatus until further notice. For more information, please read this blog post. Thank you and happy kombucha brewing, drinking, and SCOBY trading! Lots of love. ~Annabelle *

Friday, June 18, 2010

Kombucha Drinks Pulled From Whole Foods' Shelves and On Tap

Whole Foods has removed all raw kombucha products from all of their stores. Although it is well known that kombucha contains trace amounts of alcohol, the products were removed due to concerns with slightly elevated alcohol levels because products containing more than .5% alcohol must be labeled with a warning.

Read some articles on the topic:

Although kombucha can reach alcohol levels of 2-something %, producing kombucha with less than .5% alcohol is possible. For example, Katalyst Kombucha produces a raw, unpasteurized product with < .5% alcohol content. (Unfortunately, their products have been removed from Whole Foods' shelves for the time being as well). Here is a short discussion thread, Why does my kombucha have high alcohol content?!

Luckily, this recent action does not affect those who home-brew kombucha. And for those of you who don't brew your own, now is the perfect opportunity to start!

There are still plenty of places to purchase kombucha around Boston, MA. Check out my Google map on where to purchase kombucha around the Boston area.

It will be interesting to see what happens, and hopefully things will turn out alright. Stay tuned for updates!

2 comments:

Joshua said...

PCC in Seattle is still carrying the Communi-Tea Kombucha that is made by a local guy and also sold at the farmer's market - his is only 0.15% abv and tastes amazing.

Annabelle Ho said...

good to know! thanks!!