Some die-hard Kombucha fans are finding empty store shelves where their favorite fermented tea should be.
Grocers have pulled kombucha off their shelves in the last month due to questions about elevated alcohol levels in the so-called non-alcoholic beverage.
The federal limit is 0.5 percent alcohol content for a product to be labelled non-alcoholic. Some samples of kombucha have shown to have as much as 3 or 4 percent alcohol content.
The Food and Drug Administration with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau are testing various kombucha samples to determine if the product requires re-labelling as an alcoholic beverage.
If kombucha is missing from your local store's shelves, no worries, you can always make your own.
Read More:
- Fermented tea kombucha vanishes on alcohol worries (Associated Press)
- Kombucha May Be Treated Like Alcohol, Government Says (New York Times)