Kids today. Back when I was in elementary school, the main drinks were chocolate milk, regular milk, and water from the water fountain. But these days, kids are kicking it up a notch. After an elementary school student was caught drinking kombucha on school property in Arlington, Washington, the drink has been banned.
And here’s why.
Kombucha is a tea that actually has a lot of health benefits in its raw and unpasteurized form. Many people use it as a probiotic, while others use it to try to boost their immune system. Like many hyped products, the verdict isn’t completely out as to whether or not it actually serves as a miracle cure-all. But, people seem to like it and it doesn’t do much harm.
Except for one thing.
Based on the way Kombucha is made, it does contain trace amounts of alcohol. But, it’s not like any other alcoholic beverages in that people don’t really drink it to get tipsy. Home-brewed kombucha is said to typically have a higher alcohol level due to the fermentation process, but the kombucha you buy in stores often has around 0.5%.
To put that in alcohol terms, one regular beer usually has 5% of alcohol. A standard glass of wine is around 12%. Liquor is often around 40%. So in comparison, 0.5% is nothing.
But when you think about an elementary school kid drinking any sort of alcohol?
You can understand the concern.
That said, plenty of parents are hoping to reverse the new rule. They seem to believe that the pros totally outweigh the one con.
But, it was the alcohol content that ended up getting the drink initially pulled from Whole Foods back in 2010.
So, there is a legit concern out there.
Will anyone out there actually get drunk on kombucha?
Probably not. The drink is caloric and a bit filling, so it’s not something most people can easily pound down like a light beer.
Some people are against parents giving their kids kombucha for a totally different reason.
They think it’s gross.
But like many drinks, such as black coffee or craft beer, it’s an acquired taste. And once you start drinking it, it kind of grows on you.
"Can Kids Drink Kombucha?: And Other Things Googled by Panicked Bougie Parents"
— Bill Black (@williamrblack) March 6, 2018
More parents than you think are giving kombucha to their kids.
Overall, the drink is seen more as a healthy alternative than an alcoholic beverage.
“I think there’s much more important things that we can be worried about than kids drinking kombucha in school,” Elizabeth Gough said to Q13Fox.
She was one of the many parents who got the letter banning the drink.
The letter was sent to parents this month. In it, it reportedly stressed that students were not allowed to bring drugs or alcohol to the school, and that included the tea.
Gouch believes that komucha is in a completely different class from alcohol altogether.
“If there was enough alcohol left in it to be considered an alcoholic beverage, you’d have to have identification,” she stated. “You would have to be 21.”
Anyone else think they can really feel that 1% alcohol in kombucha ??
— Kayla (@kay5bon) March 12, 2019
Unfortunately, you can’t have kombucha without fermentation. That’s how it’s made.
So, that means that it’s impossible to sell a kombucha drink that is completely alcohol-free and still called kombucha.
Even though you’re meant to drink it, it may make you think about other household items that unknowingly contain alcohol.
While some brands label themselves as alcohol-free, plenty of mouthwash brands contain alcohol.
RDH Magazine reports that standard Listerine is 54-proof with 26.9% alcohol. But, drinking Listerine will make you quite sick. The company has added other chemicals in there that make it very hard to actually drink.
Still, using mouthwash as directed can make you accidentally fail a breathalyzer test.
But you might not think of it at the time. Why? Because, regular people don’t see mouthwash that way, just like elementary school kids aren’t pounding kombucha to get a buzz.
oh? you like bad girls? one time i used my dad’s mouthwash and then i saw it said “ages 12 and up” on the bottle, and i was 11. (then i started crying, because i thought i was gonna get drunk.)
— emma 🕷️ (@dilemmairv) September 13, 2018
Whether or not you’d be comfortable having your child drink kombucha is up to you. Some parents may be wary, while others will have no issue.
But still, it makes you wonder how far school lunches have come.
If not milk, kids of the ’90s were sipping on fruit punch. So, it’s quite possible that in another few decades, kombucha may actually be a lunchroom staple, as opposed to a potentially dangerous drink.
