Insani-tea
No Hollywood tea for Texas: Lindsay Lohan sets off a kombucha scare at CentralMarket & Whole Foods
If your vegan waitress, yoga instructor or pet therapist seems a little off lately, blame Lindsay Lohan.
When the actress/hot mess set off her court-required alcohol monitoring SCRAM bracelet after the MTV Movie Awards earlier this month, she blamed kombucha, the herbal-bacterial tea beloved by Hollywood- and granola-types for its reported health and digestion benefits.
But after the Lohan debacle, vendors are questioning whether the kombucha drinks contain an alcohol by volume above 0.5%, the amount that's required for a government warning.
Concerns are great enough that stores like Whole Foods and Central Market have voluntarily pulled the drink from their shelves while suppliers perform more tests to resolve potential labeling issues.
Unfortunately for Lindsay, even at higher-than-advertised levels officials say it's "unlikely" kombucha could set off the monitor.
Many "non-alcoholic" beverages contain trace amounts of alcohol produced in the brewing process, including Sprite, 7UP, ginger ale and notably, Fentimans Victorian Lemonade, which was banned from sale to minors in Maine due to its 0.3 percent alcohol content.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission did not immediately return calls on whether the agency would be taking a role in monitoring kombucha.