Kombucha warning withdrawn as P.E.I. overhauls 'outdated' liquor laws

The P.E.I. government has withdrawn a liquor inspector'swarning to a Charlottetown restaurant last week.

And the province's finance minister says the restaurant, My Plum, My Duck, is free once again to serve a fermented tea, kombucha, produced by a local Island company.

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Government withdrew the warning while it seeks to make immediate changes to regulations to allow for the sale of the beverage.

Finance Minister Heath MacDonaldsaid the province had already begun the process of overhaulingthe "outdated" P.E.I. Liquor Control Act, and that overhaulwill bringin new rules that'll add "common sense" tothe legislation.

The Charlottetown restaurant My Plum, My Duck received thewarning from a liquor inspector late last week, sayingthe business sold "alcohol not purchased under liquor license or from liquor commission (kombucha)."

'I don't think you could ever eat enough sauerkraut or drink enoughkombuchato actually ever get drunk off of those products.' Amy Smith

SarahForresterWendt, owner and chef of My Plum, My Duck,said she was "completely surprised" to receive the notice as she and others don't consider kombucha to be an alcoholic beverage.

"They had never told me before that there was any problem with selling it here," ForresterWendtsaid.

Can't get you drunk, says producer

The restaurant gets itskombuchafromHeart Beet Organics, whowere also told last week thatthey couldn'tsellto licensed establishmentsbecause of the alcohol content in the drink.

Although, Amy Smith, co-owner of Heart Beet Organics, says there's not enough alcohol in kombuchato get you drunk as it floats at less than 0.5 per cent alcohol content.

Anything more than 0.5 per cent, according to the province's liquor laws, qualifies as "deemed to be intoxicating."

"It's a bit of a head scratcher,it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense," Smith said.

"With any fermented food really, even sauerkraut, kimchi, all of those sort of things, the alcohol is produced as a byproduct. I don't think you could ever eat enough sauerkraut or drink enough kombucha to actually ever get drunk off of those products."

Warning not handled appropriately: Heath MacDonald

P.E.I.'s finance ministertoldCBC'sIsland Morningthat kombuchais currently in a "grey area" in P.E.I.'s current liquor laws and that government is working with Smith to mend the problem.

"We feel our act is outdated andkombuchais one of those products that fit into that grey area," he said.

"The P.E.I. Liquor Commission was obviously doing their job but Ifeel strongly as a minister with an outdated act that we got to work with these companies."

MacDonald said the kombucha warning wasn't"handled as appropriately as it should have been" and that he's told inspectors that "we have to use common sense" when dealing with new products to the Island, such as kombucha.

He said changes in regulations will be undertaken within days and can be passed immediately, while changes to the liquor act itself may be presented in the House either in the spring or fall sitting.

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