ders0 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Hello, I'm having difficulty determining if these Kombuchas are Whole30 compliant or not. Sugar is lined out on the ingredients but it's in parenthesis as part of the "Organic Kombucha." I read this as there is no sugar added after the initial fermentation, but it does have "sugar" on the label. Anyone have thoughts on whether this is compliant? I've attached the labels for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted February 18, 2019 Moderators Share Posted February 18, 2019 These are fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ders0 Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 12 minutes ago, SugarcubeOD said: These are fine Just out of curiosity is it the parenthesis that makes these OK? Even though it has "organic cane sugar" in the ingredients? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DingoDebra Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 No— it’s part of the kombucha. I believe Whole30 addresses this question in FAQs. FYI —the parentheses indicates the ingredients in the kombucha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slc_melissa Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Hmm, the whole 30 kombucha link that pops up in a google search, unless something has been officially updated after this post, seems to imply that any listing of sugar is out: https://whole30.com/2016/08/kombucha/ And for the people who aren't going to actually read the link and say something about sugar before or after the fermentation process, here's a key excerpt: _______________________ So I rely on the black-and-white rules. If there is sugar on the label, it’s out. Period. Which means Health-Ade is out, but GTs is in. Is this fair? No. Is it the best way I know to implement the Whole30 rules? Yes. Now… if you can drink GTs kombucha because of their labeling practices, how can I say, “This kombucha is okay, but you can’t make your own kombucha at home, because you’re adding sugar?” I can’t. Which means there’s a loophole here in the strictest sense of the Whole30 rules. If you’ve followed along thus far, you can see how managing the Whole30 program can be complicated at times. Please know I’m doing the best I can. I have to make the rules easy to follow, and in the case of kombucha, it’s the FDA’s laxity in labeling laws that is making my job hard. And I guarantee I’ll be criticized no matter what I do, so I’m going to stick to my guns and make the call that I think is in the best interest of the program, and your results. The Final Word If you make kombucha at home and don’t add sugar after the fermentation process, is that Whole30-compliant? Yes. If you buy store-bought kombucha and sugar is not in the ingredient list, is that Whole30-compliant? Yes. If you buy store-bought kombucha and sugar is not in the ingredient list, but you do see fruit juice, is that Whole30-compliant? Yes. If you see store-bought kombucha and see any form of sugar (including stevia) in the ingredients, is that compliant? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SugarcubeOD Posted February 25, 2019 Moderators Share Posted February 25, 2019 1 hour ago, slc_melissa said: Hmm, the whole 30 kombucha link that pops up in a google search, unless something has been officially updated after this post, seems to imply that any listing of sugar is out: https://whole30.com/2016/08/kombucha/ And for the people who aren't going to actually read the link and say something about sugar before or after the fermentation process, here's a key excerpt: _______________________ So I rely on the black-and-white rules. If there is sugar on the label, it’s out. Period. Which means Health-Ade is out, but GTs is in. Is this fair? No. Is it the best way I know to implement the Whole30 rules? Yes. Now… if you can drink GTs kombucha because of their labeling practices, how can I say, “This kombucha is okay, but you can’t make your own kombucha at home, because you’re adding sugar?” I can’t. Which means there’s a loophole here in the strictest sense of the Whole30 rules. If you’ve followed along thus far, you can see how managing the Whole30 program can be complicated at times. Please know I’m doing the best I can. I have to make the rules easy to follow, and in the case of kombucha, it’s the FDA’s laxity in labeling laws that is making my job hard. And I guarantee I’ll be criticized no matter what I do, so I’m going to stick to my guns and make the call that I think is in the best interest of the program, and your results. The Final Word If you make kombucha at home and don’t add sugar after the fermentation process, is that Whole30-compliant? Yes. If you buy store-bought kombucha and sugar is not in the ingredient list, is that Whole30-compliant? Yes. If you buy store-bought kombucha and sugar is not in the ingredient list, but you do see fruit juice, is that Whole30-compliant? Yes. If you see store-bought kombucha and see any form of sugar (including stevia) in the ingredients, is that compliant? No. Yes, that is the official stance. However, because we can tell by this product's labelling (just like GT's) that the sugar is used in the fermentation process, we can determine that this product is technically compliant. If there was ANY gray area at all from where the sugar was shown on the label, with or without parentheses etc... then it would be a hard no. Same as if you contacted the company and they told you that there was no added sugar - then that product would be fine for you to have. It's very difficult tho and very gray and a determination had to be made, hence the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slc_melissa Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Cool, thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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