Is Carpe Diem Classic Kombucha compliant with Whole30?

[Chinda82]

I've been prepping and planning to start whole30 within a week and have read that Kombucha is allowed in Whole30 as long as there is no added sugar. I'm currently living in Switzerland and the only Kombucha brand available is Carpe Diem brand. I like the brand but am not sure if it is compliant for Whole30. The ingredient is listed as follow : infusion of herbal tea ( water and herbal mixture) , Beet sugar, Carbonic acid, Kombucha cultures and lactobacilli, concentrated juice of acerola.

This is the listed of ingredient on the bottle after I translated it from German. I'm just not sure if how the beet sugar was listed make it compliant or not.

[Mitch55]

Well, the sugar part is out, but I suspect Carpe Diem calls it Beet Sugar to make it sound like it's healthy...

 

A lot of regular white sugar is from beets, but it doesn't say so on the package label... I have a bottle of Kombucha in my fridge I have been trying to finish for a week... I can see why they would add sugar to make you buy more / make it less like vinegar tasting

 

All that being said, I'm very new to Kombucha... Would the brewing process remove any added beet sugar???

[ShannonM816]

Chinda82, I'm not 100% clear. I know we have some other Europeans around the forum, hopefully one of them will be able to give you a more definitive answer. It sort of looks like it's probably okay, given the order the stuff is listed in, but I'm really not sure.

 

 

Mitch55 -- All kombucha has sugar. To make it, you combine tea, sugar, and a scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast), keep it in a container for a week to ten days or so at a warmish room temperature, and it ferments -- the bacteria and yeast eat/process most of the sugar as they reproduce, which is why it's allowed on Whole30. (Also why it starts with about a cup of sugar per gallon of tea, and ends up tasting like vinegar.)

 

The issue comes up when you do a second ferment, which is when you divide that fermented tea into smaller bottles, add some flavor, close it up air tight, and let it ferment a few more days to produce carbonation, and then you refrigerate it, which drastically slows down the fermenting process. Some brands add sugar or other sweeteners in the second ferment, and some of it will be eaten, just like what happens in the first ferment, but because it's a shorter fermenting time, not as much of it gets eaten, so there can still be sugar left in it. Because of that, brands that add sugar or honey or other sweetener in the second ferment are not okay on Whole30. Other brands just add fruit juice, herbs, and spices to their second ferment, and those are okay.

 

In the US, it's pretty clear -- in a compliant kombucha, the ingredients will look something like:   kombucha (tea, sugar, kombucha culture), juice. Some may not even have the stuff in parentheses after kombucha, it may just say: kombucha, juice. If you see one that says kombucha (tea, sugar, kombucha culture), juice, sugar/honey/stevia  -- that's not compliant, it means that the sugar was added as it was bottled. Make sense?

[Loulabelle]

Hi Chinda82, I have no idea about the Kombucha I just wanted to say Hi from another W30'er living in Switzerland. All the best for your 30 days and if you need any tips on doing it here and how to find things like compliant bacon let me know.

[jmcbn]

Yeah, I'm not a Kombucha drinker either, but with a little googling discovered that Carpe Diem is made by Red Bull GmbH in a bid to expand into the health conscious drinks market, and having read a few reviews from Kombucha drinkers who have tried some of the Carpe Diem products they say it doesn't really have the true Kombucha flavour, and that it's more of an entry level drink which would lead me to believe it has added sugar...

I managed to find this one which seems fairly definitive as to having no sugar added in the second ferment.... I'm pretty sure I saw this one previously on Amazon UK so may be available across Europe too, or maybe try shipping direct from their website?

Hope this helps!