Kombucha
kombucha samples in the BCIT Phytoanalytics Lab.
The BCIT Natural Health and Food Products Research Group (NRG) is collaborating with the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) to evaluate ethanol levels in kombucha beverages.
Kombucha is a fermented beverage made from sweetening black or green tea and then adding a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, known as a SCOBY. This beverage is described as acidic in taste and can vary in flavour depending on whether a flavouring is added in the secondary fermentation process. When Kombucha is sold as a non-alcoholic beverage, as it usually is, the alcohol content should be below 1.1 % Alcohol By Volume (ABV) in Canada.
BCIT has developed a headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) method to measure the ethanol levels in kombucha production and storage.
A Study of Alcohol Levels in Kombucha Products in British Columbia (March 2020)
The Natural Health and Food Products Research Group (NRG) collaborated with the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) on this study to evaluate ethanol levels in kombucha beverages. The purpose of this study was to determine if kombucha available for sale to the public in British Columbia contained levels of alcohol that could cause harm.