Cultural Analysis of Commercial Kombucha

Abstract

Kombucha is a fizzy probiotic drink that can be found in many supermarkets in the United States. It is believed to be beneficial for gut and emotional health and the labels on the bottles usually refer to live and active cultures. In this study five Kombucha drinks from different manufacturers were purchased from local supermarkets in the Twin Cities area, MN, and a cultural analysis was conducted to find out what types of viable cultures are in the bottles. The results revealed that two of the five Kombucha drinks did not have viable Kombucha cultures (yeast and acetic acid bacteria) but did have the added probiotic cultures listed on the bottle. Interestingly, one of the five Kombucha drinks contained fecal coliform bacteria as well as the Kombucha and probiotic cultures.