KeVita proposes 'Verified Non Alcoholic' logo to reassure shoppers kombucha is below legal alcohol limit

By Elaine Watson

- Last updated on GMT

KeVita: 'We’ve spoken to leading retailers about this initiative and they are supportive'
KeVita: 'We’ve spoken to leading retailers about this initiative and they are supportive'

Related tags Alcoholic beverage

Tens of thousands of kombucha bottles were pulled from US shelves in 2010 after it emerged they exceeded the 0.5% legal alcohol limit, so you’d assume products on shelf today are all fully compliant, right? Wrong, claims KeVita, which is proposing an initiative designed to reassure shoppers they not getting more booze than they bargained for.

One of the fastest-growing segments in the functional beverages category with North American retail sales set to hit $500m this year, kombucha is tea fermented with live bacteria and yeast that creates carbon dioxide, alcohol and acetic acid and has a fizzy, slightly vinegary taste. 

While many companies routinely test their kombucha to ensure it contains less than 0.5% abv (to be classified as a non-alcoholic beverage), others “don’t know, or don’t want to know​” if they are over the limit, claimed KeVita CEO Bill Moses, who told FoodNavigator-USA earlier this year that some players were “thumbing their nose at the regulators​”​ and that this was an “open secret​” in the trade.

Speaking to us Thursday, he said a voluntary 'Truth in Labeling' initiative – whereby companies that have had off-the-shelf samples independently tested could use a ‘Verified non-alcoholic’ logo – was a positive way to tackle the problem.

He added: “We’ve talked to several manufacturers and a lot are interested in collaborating. We’ve also spoken to leading retailers and they are supportive as the TTB ​(The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) said in March​ that ‘many’ products it had tested contained at least 0.5% abv.”

KeVita is willing to subsidize initial cost of testing for small producers

Kombucha products that contain more than 0.5% abv are legal, but must be clearly labeled as such (and classified as alcoholic beverages, which are regulated by the TTB).

For example, GT’s Classic​ kombucha clearly states that it may contain more than 0.5% abv, whereas its Enlightened​ range is non-alcoholic.

“I think there is a huge opportunity for kombucha in craft brewing," ​said Moses. "So if that’s the area of the market you are in, why not make this clear on your labels, and try to win in that category?”

KeVita Verified Non Alcoholic logo

To get the ball rolling, KeVita plans to start using a new ‘Verified non-alcoholic’ logo on its Master Brew Kombucha and is encouraging other kombucha companies that have also had their products independently tested to use it as well.

Ultimately, however, KeVita wants to partner with an independent third party that can manage the verification process on an ongoing basis, said Moses, who said KeVita was prepared to contribute up to $100,000 to get a initiative off the ground.

“We’re committed to lead funding for the design and initial implementation of the certification process covering areas such as the design of third party product testing protocols… We are also willing to subsidize the initial cost of testing for small producers. If they don’t pass the lab tests, the results would remain confidential, but if they do, they can use the logo.”

Bill MOses landscape
Bill Moses co-founded KeVita with business partner Chakra Earthsong Levy in 2009. Today, the company, which is best-known for its sparkling probiotic beverages, has an ACV of 96% in Whole Foods Market and an ACV of around 35% in the conventional channel if you include Publix - where the brand is currently rolling out

TTB: Use a manufacturing process that will ensure your product remains compliant after it leaves your plant

But why are products over the limit in the first place?

Many reasons, said Moses, who said strict controls over manufacturing processes were needed to ensure kombucha did not carry on fermenting (and creating more alcohol) after it was bottled, another reason why firms needed to test products off the shelf, not just at their manufacturing plants.

The TTB for example, notes on its website​ that refrigeration is “not an adequate method" ​of ensuring that the alcohol content will not increase after it leaves your plant “because you cannot control whether the product will be refrigerated after removal”.

Therefore, it says, “You must use a method of manufacture (such as pasteurization) that will ensure that the alcohol content of the beverage will not increase while in the original container after removal.”

KeVita, for example, has perfected a filtration process to get all the yeast out of its Master Brew Kombucha range prior to bottling, and says ultimately, the buck stops with the manufacturer.

Some of my fellow manufacturers are quick to say this is a supply chain issue,” ​said Moses. “But it’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure that the product that is sold to the consumer is compliant with the law.”

Master Brew kombucha strip
KeVita, which is best known for its sparkling organic probiotic beverages, launched its successful Master Brew kombucha range last year

US retail sales of Kombucha expected to be approximately $500m in 2015

But why not leave this to the TTB, which says that it is working with producers “so that they may come into compliance”​ and that if tests show products are over the limit, it “may seek corrective action​”?

Because the industry should be on the front foot on the issue, said Moses: “We feel that self-regulation would really help those that are compliant be protected. In 2010, they just pulled everyone off the shelf indiscriminately... The need has become clear for an industry-led, standardized testing and alcohol level compliance protocol that can be trusted by consumers, producers and retailers.”

Master Brew Kombucha, which KeVita launched in November 2014, has a strong presence in the natural channel and rapidly growing distribution in the conventional channel, where it has already reached the #2 spot in the category, claimed Moses.

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4 comments

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Re: Non-Alcoholic and @JRabinowitz

Posted by Willamena Gates,

Yes, alcohol is alcohol, however, not everyone is pre-disposed to being and/or becoming an alcoholic. I am a "non-practicing alcoholic" so I know something about that of which I speak.

My initial reason for wanting to comment on this article is that as a non-practicing alcoholic I think that the labeling should more accurately be: "Contains 0.5% Alcohol" as it is not truly "non-alcoholic". With that said, however, the vagaries and sometimes dis-honest labeling practices in the U.S. allow for "in-exact description of actual content", e.g., "All-Natural".

Re: (potential)Health benefits of kombucha: http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-health-benefits/

I am not a food scientist so I cannot claim that everything in the above site is valid/accurate/true, however, being open-minded is its own reward. :)

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Polyphenol is NOT alcohol

Posted by Jenny,

THis all depends on the PH level, so bottle below 3PH and the carbonation will produce polyphenol, which test as alcohol but is NOT alcohol, it is mistaken for alcohol but has opposite effect on body as it is negatively charged, detoxicating instead of intoxicating. Get the product tested by a scientist who understands the DIFFERENCE between polyphenols and alcohol and put this stupid argument to rest once and for all and to think this advice has to come from SOuth Africa, but then again, didn't Elon Musk also come from here?

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Alcohol AND no yeast!

Posted by brian fedirko,

They're trying to label an alcoholic drink with a "non-alcoholic" label.
That's false advertising, to an extreme misuse and misleading the of the buyer.
And the main money maker of the bunch is extracting the yeast from their product which isn't kombucha any more. It's misleading it's buyer once again with the distraction of the label non-alcoholic.
The yeast is the ONLY probiotic claim to fame that the drinking of kombucha has.
Not that probiotic isn't a misleading catch phrase to begin with.

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