Pharmacy can sell kombucha

WELLINGTON: A Wellington pharmacy has won an expensive legal battle with the Government over the right to sell kombucha.

WellWorks coowner Ben Latty has won a legal battle with the Government to sell kombucha at his pharmacy.

Like any pharmacy, Wellness Works on Taranaki St sold medicine and filled prescriptions.

But its plans to serve fermented beverages on tap were blocked by the Ministry of Health, starting a legal battle for the licence to sell the drinks.

People have drunk kombucha for centuries.

Proponents claim it is a fasttrack to a healthy gut and in recent years it has surged in popularity, popping up in supermarkets and cafes.

Now, WellWorks on Taranaki St has started selling the product. The shop has a socalled ‘‘health bar’’ at the front and a standard pharmacy at the back.

The plan struck a hitch when the owners applied for a licence only to be told about a Ministry of Health regulation stating medicine cannot be sold in the same room as food and drink are prepared.

One of the owners, Ben Latty, said the rules were outdated.

‘‘Countdown is doing their thing with dispensaries in the middle on an aisle with a bakery.’’

The owners appealed the ministry’s decision and won a long legal battle and now the pharmacy can sell fermented tea and turmeric lattes alongside antibiotics. —RNZ