Nathan Hague

Thai Labelling Laws: Confusing?

You’re not alone if you’ve ever asked yourself, “how long does kombucha last?“

You’d think as a naturally-fermented food, that the mixture of good bacteria and yeast would keep it ready to drink for a very long time, right? That an aged kombucha would just turn into a delicious vinegar you could use in cooking instead of perhaps drinking?

Well, yes. but also no.

Kombucha doesn’t last forever.

Depending on how it’s bottled and stored, sparkling raw kombucha can last anywhere from six to eight months. If you look on any bottle of KombuchaWOW, you’ll see what this expiry date is, and you’d think then that you need to drink before that day – or throw the bottle away, right?

Actually no. That’s not the whole story..

Understanding Food And Drink Expiry Date Labels

Now obviously ALL Manufacturers include date marks on their products to give a guide to how long food can be kept before it begins to deteriorate or may become unsafe to eat. We’re no different at KombuchaWOW, and as I say – you can check our bottles for those same labels.

HOWEVER!

We use the more accurate “Use By” label on our bottles of Thailand kombucha.

We do this, because there’s actually TWO types of date marking, and it’s up to the Manufacturer to decide whether to place a use-by or best-before date on their food and drink products. Those two types are:

• Use-By Dates
  Foods that must be consumed before a certain time for health or safety reasons should be marked with a use-by date. Foods should not be eaten or drunk after the use-by date – and they can’t legally be sold after this date because they may pose a health or safety risk. Yes, even kombucha!
• Best-Before Dates
  Most foods have a best-before date. You can still eat foods for a while after the best-before date as they should be safe but they may have lost some quality. Foods that have a best-before date can legally be sold after that date provided the food is fit for human consumption. Kombucha falls into this category because obviously it will continue to ferment as a living product, providing its labeled as “raw” kombucha. It will just get more sour over time until it’s undrinkable and too acidic.

Interestingly, the only food that can have a different date mark on it is bread, which can be labelled with a “baked-on” or “baked-for” date if its shelf life is less than seven days.

It’s All About The Storage

Also worth noting, is that specific storage conditions are required in order for a product to keep until its best-before or use-by date. All Manufacturers need to include this information on their label, e.g. ‘This kombucha should be kept refrigerated’.

Kombucha – and many other foods and beverages – require a stable, specific temperature range to remain in tip top condition for you to consume. Kombucha that’s labeled as “raw” definitely requires refrigeration in order to maintain the community of live and active cultures in the drink. If the cultures of bacteria are overheated, they die (This is how pasteurisation works, actually!)

Basically, if you leave you bottle of kombucha sitting in a hot car, it’s going to taste way more inferior to a bottle that’s been stored in the fridge or ice cooler box (and also, you’ll probably be wearing it if you try and open that hot kombucha! TL;DR – always store kombucha in a cold place!)

Last point on shelf stable kombucha specifically:

Shelf stable kombucha. This stuff will outlast all of us in the event of a nuclear explosion. It’s been pasteurised and it’s had pretty much ALL of the “good stuff” removed from it, in order to be allowed to be put on shelves without refrigeration. If a raw kombucha was stored at room temperature, you’d soon know – there would be a small SCOBY form in the bottle, and its something you wouldn’t buy (or open!)

Final Thoughts

So, the big question: How long does kombucha last? You already know that depends on when it was opened and how it was stored. But the biggest factor in the real world, is what happens once you open that bottle or can of kombucha.

Treat an opened bottle or can of kombucha as if it was a fizzy soda: Once opened, your kombucha will last 1 – 2 days in the fridge. Try and open and drink and store in the same day.

Once a can of KombuchaWOW is opened, as you can’t reseal a can then you should drink it like you would any other fizzy drink: If you leave your can of soda in the Thailand temperatures, then it’s going to go flat pretty quick. It’s kind of the same with bottled kombucha – but with a reusable cap, providing you cap the bottle and place it back into the fridge, you’re going to have a quality drink for later as well.

Once you buy your kombucha and keep refrigerated, your kombucha will last as on long as the label type indicates. It’s not uncommon to find raw kombucha to last at least 6 months after purchase date.

Pay attention to the label – is it “best before” or “use by“. With “best before” you have more wiggle room – your booch will be good but maybe not great. With “use by” you really have to throw that booch away after that date.

Remember with raw kombucha though, if you leave for a few days at room temperature or a temperature where the fermentation can carry on – then you’ll have a SCOBY start to grow in the bottle! Cool, safe but also gross if you want to just drink that remaining booch!

Just keep your cans and bottles of raw kombucha cold, and they’ll remain fizzy, tart and full of those beneficial live and active cultures that are good to our gut health!

And that’s a wrap!

As always, Alice and I always recommend your comments and views and questions. We read EVERY SINGLE ONE, so please hit us up on our socials (or here). We’re on Facebook, instagram and TikTok. And as always – tag your pictures of our booch with #kombuchawow – if we like the look of your pics, you might even wake up with some freebies in your inbox!

Booch on!

Nate