Help... Fruit Flies get in my Kombucha

[isabchi]

Urgggggggggggggg...my DH leave the jar open for a few minutes... I just found a fruit flie in the jar.
What i have suppose to do now?
I don't want to lose my scobby?
Help!!!!

[Astral Mama]

First, fish out the fruit fly.

Then, relax.

Your SCOBY is an ecosystem. It's nothing but symbiotic bacteria and fungi living out their lives. It's not easy for it to become contaminated with a pathogenic microbe. And that's all a fruit fly could do to it. It's already teaming with life -- so it won't pick up harmful things easily. (Just like how your own body is less likely to pick up harmful microbes if your gut ecosystem is working right.)

Give it a few days. Feed it and so forth like always, just don't consume anything it produces. Give it, say, five days. After that time, if there's no visible signs (new colonies of bacteria or fungi growing in an unfamiliar way, off colors) or olfactory signs (i.e. if it smells okay) then you're almost certainly fine.

(This is an educated guess, take it with a grain of salt. I am not your doctor, nutritionist, chiropractor, reflexologist, or faith healer, yadda yadda yadda.)

[Purple Sage]

I agree with the previous poster. Fish them out, cover the jar, and relax.

I've had a few fruit flies in my kombucha from time to time, but they've never ruined a batch.

[TopazBlueMama]

I hate this time of year with the swarms of fruit flies! I've decided that from now on, this time of year all the ferments will be taking a rest in the fridge. Especially sourdough. I got a bag of peaches and tomatoes and now my kitchen is full of them. My "trap" to drown them works pretty well though!

[dogmom327]

Just fish the fruit fly out and watch the scoby. If there's no sign of fruit fly larvae, your probably fine If the fruit fly wasn't in there for long, they probably didn't lay any eggs.

[isabchi]

Thank you wise mamas!!!... I can relax now..