Unfortunately, there are no laws yet that enforce the correct labelling of pasteurized products. Yugen flavour is packed with fresh pure juice this would greatly impact our Process also decreases the amount of some nutrients like vitamin C. The different flavours and aromas that characterize the drink become a bit less pronounced because of the loss of the volatile aromas. The second & more subtle consequence is that pasteurization also has a small but measurable effect on the flavour and aroma. The live cultures in fermented foods can help restore the balance of friendly bacteria in your gut and may alleviate some digestive problems. We found that every bottle or can contains as much as 3 billion living cells. Together with the University of Ghent, Yugen researched the amount of living cells in our kombucha. Most kombucha lovers tend to enjoy their booch raw because of the potential health benefits they provide. The first & most obvious consequence of pasteurization is that there are no more beneficial microorganisms active in the drink. This obviously simplifies the logistics and also lengthens the shelf life. In other words, pasteurized kombucha does not need refrigeration, not in the store, not during transportation and not at home. The pasteurization process allows them to produce a fully shelf stable kombucha. So even though kombucha is inherently protected from spoilage because of the fermentation, you still need refrigeration to preserve the quality.īecause of this, some sugar containing kombucha brands opt to pasteurize their product and kill off the natural living microorganisms. More carbon dioxide will be produced and the drink will become more tart and more alcoholic. However, without proper refrigeration, kombucha with left over sugar will continue to ferment and the flavour will change. The same processes apply to kombucha where the low pH created by fermentation acts as a natural preservative. The byproducts of fermentation such as, lactic acid, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, or alcohol prevent rapid spoilage, and thus enabled them to survive more difficult times.
Why consider pasteurization?īefore the invention of pasteurization and refrigeration, cultures across the world relied on fermentation to preserve their precious foods. Even more, most are beneficial and have important roles to play. Obviously killing of bad microorganisms is a great thing. After the process, virtually no living cells remain. Depending on the type of food and microorganisms you want to pasteurize, the temperature and time of pasteurization needs to be adjusted. Louis Pasteur, the French scientist also known as "the father of microbiology", was the first to prove that tiny organisms were responsible for the spoilage of food, and that it could be prevented by a controlled heat treatment. Pasteurization is a heat treatment used to kill of any living microorganisms in food and beverages. They are present in each raw kombucha and deliver what many believe added health benefits. These living organisms define the drink and are at the root of its success throughout the ages. During the fermentation the yeasts and bacteria transform the sweetened tea into delicious booch. Scobies (Symbiotic Cultures of Bacteria and Yeast) are the living organisms necessary to ferment the tea.
Ever since then, kombucha has been passed on from generation to generation by sharing scobies. Many of the oldest records go as far back as 221 B.C. Raw, unpasteurized kombucha has been around for a long time.
As more & more brands opt to pasteurize their product we figured it's time to shed some light on this heated topic and offer some tips on how to distinguish the two. This seems to be the question in the commercial kombucha world right now.