Yogi Green Tea Kombucha Isn’t Real Kombucha, Class Action Says

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A recent false advertising class action lawsuit claims Yogi Green Tea Kombucha simply isn’t what its packaging says it is.

According to plaintiff Sydney Cohen, Yogi Green Tea Kombucha, a dried food product prepackaged and sold in individual tea bags, can’t possibly contain genuine kombucha. Kombucha is a raw product by its nature, Cohen claims.

She says defendant East West Tea Company LLC’s kombucha-labeled products either do not actually contain real kombucha or they have been pasteurized in a way that eliminates the probiotic value for which consumers purchase kombucha, she says.

Real kombucha must be brewed in a process that involves live bacteria and yeast cultures – a process that precludes kombucha from being reduced to a dry, prepackaged food product, Cohen claims.

According to her complaint, kombucha is made by fermenting steeped tea with sugar, yeast and bacteria over a period of several days. It starts with tea that has been steeped in hot water, combined with sugar and allowed to cool. The tea is combined with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, or SCOBY for short. The mix is then covered with a cloth and allowed to sit at room temperature for a week or more.

When fermentation is complete, the SCOBY is removed, leaving a batch of kombucha. Cohen says the SCOBY can be saved and used again to make several more batches.

“In other words, kombucha is not a tea leaf—rather, it is the end result of fermenting brewed tea comprised of live organisms created as a result of the fermentation process,” Cohen claims. “Thus, it cannot be dried and stuffed into a tea bag, as Defendant suggests through the marketing and sale of its Kombucha Products.”

Cohen claims East West Tea Company is improperly using Yogi Green Tea Kombucha to capitalize on a huge consumer market for kombucha. One study she cites says the global kombucha market is expected to grow from over half a billion dollars in 2015 to $1.8 billion by 2020.

The market is driven by the purported health benefits associated with fermented products. Proponents of probiotic foods like kombucha say they can improve digestion, brain development and mental health. These foods may also strengthen the immune system and could help prevent severe health problems such as cancer.

Cohen is proposing to represent a statewide plaintiff Class that would include all persons in California who purchased Yogi Green Tea Kombucha for their own use and not for resale, during the applicable statutory limitations period.

She seeks an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement, and injunctive relief that would require the defendant to cease the activity complained of here and to conduct a corrective advertising campaign. She also seeks reimbursement of her attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

Cohen is represented by attorneys Todd D. Carpenter and Brittany C. Casola of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter LLP.

The Yogi Green Tea Kombucha False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Sydney Cohen v. East West Tea Company LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-02339-JLS-BLM, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.