A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of a Los Angeles-based kombucha company alleges the kombucha beverages manufactured by Trader Joes and five other companies are more alcoholic and sugary than advertised.

A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of a Los Angeles-based kombucha company alleges the kombucha beverages manufactured by Trader Joes and five other companies are more alcoholic and sugary than advertised.

Photo: Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

Photo: Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

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A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of a Los Angeles-based kombucha company alleges the kombucha beverages manufactured by Trader Joes and five other companies are more alcoholic and sugary than advertised.

A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of a Los Angeles-based kombucha company alleges the kombucha beverages manufactured by Trader Joes and five other companies are more alcoholic and sugary than advertised.

A series of lawsuits filed Monday on behalf of a California kombucha company alleges the kombucha beverages produced by Trader Joe's and other manufacturers are more alcoholic and sugary than advertised.

The filings claim the companies' failure to properly disclose the alcoholic content of their kombuchas jeopardizes "health and safety" of consumers, who may have unwittingly consumed the drinks when pregnant or breastfeeding, or served them to minors.

Plus, Kombucha Dog, which has an alcoholic content high enough to be sold in beer sections of stores, lost money.

"They can sell in more stores, sell next to juices," said Stephen Weisskopf of Levato Law, who is representing Tortilla Factory. "My client's product has to sell next to Budweisers."

The complaint filed against Trader Joe's alleges Tortilla Factory "lost profits, failed to obtain the market share it would otherwise have obtained, and was denied a fair marketplace."

Michael Faye started Kombucha Dog more than a decade ago to combine his passion for holistic living and pooches. Each bottle of Kombucha Dog is decorated with a photo of a Los Angeles rescue dog in need of a home.

Despite having won awards and recognition from local media for his "traditionally fermented" product, Faye "can't compete in the marketplace because he's not on a level playing field," Weisskopf said of his client.

But more importantly, "it's about consumers knowing what they're buying, otherwise, there's dangers associated with it."

Kombucha has long been a sticky product for manufacturers, who must contend with stringent state and federal alcoholic beverage laws. The drink, which skyrocketed in popularity among the health-food crowd in recent years, is made by combining tea and sugar with a culture of yeast strains and bacteria, and sometimes fruit juice. The mixture of tea and sugar triggers fermentation, meaning most kombucha drinks contain some amount of alcohol.

Here's where things get tricky: Drinks with alcohol contents of .5 percent or more are classified as alcoholic beverages under federal law and subject to strict regulation. A beverage that contains .5 percent or higher alcohol by volume (ABV) – even a drink touted as a health beverage, like kombucha – is subject to the same state and federal laws that regulate other alcoholic beverages, including limits on where and to whom the product can be sold.

The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) generally classifies kombucha beverages with alcohol contents of .5 percent or higher as beer. This means the kombucha producer must qualify as a brewer, pay taxes to the federal government, file a formula with TTB and label bottles with a warning from the U.S. Attorney General.

The six companies being sued by Tortilla Factory claim their beverages have alcohol contents below .5 percent. Independent testing sponsored by Tortilla Factory found these claims to be false, Weisskopf said.

The "majority" of products they tested were above .5 percent, he said.

Trader Joe's refused to comment on pending litigation. The five other companies could not be reached for comment.

According to Weisskopf, the kombucha industry is rife with violations. He says many of the kombuchas on the market have alcohol contents higher than .5 percent, and in some cases, "considerably more, approaching 1 or 2 or 3 percent." Standard light beers contain anywhere between 2 and 5 percent ABV.

Faye's Kombucha Dog drinks are brewed from a "traditional recipe," according to the company's website, and most contain around 1.4 percent ABV.

"Rather than dilute the flavor and the antioxidant and probiotic potency to reduce the alcohol content, we prefer to bottle as is, so Kombucha Dog is a 21+ beverage," the website says. According to the company, some kombucha makers dilute their beverages with water to skirt alcohol restrictions.

Weisskopf said they plan to sue for "significant damages." Other kombucha makers may come under fire in the coming months.

"We're still investigating other companies," he said. "We'll make determinations down the road whether there are additional lawsuits."