I bought this pre-roasted barley to make boricha. I’ve made the tea a few times without issues, but recently had a bad bout of food poisoning that I’m trying to track down the culprit of. I’ve been storing the bag in my pantry unsealed, and drinking the tea cooled in the fridge within a week of brewing- any possibility of food poisoning from this process? I can’t read Korean, am I missing something?
by 1010meha
2 Comments
If it’s just roasted barley and you drank it without issue several times, I doubt this is the culprit. Barley can support some real nasty fungi when growing, but most modern farming eliminates that and it doesn’t end up in the food supply. Your barley would show signs of it too.
Unless your barley looks/smells off or you never clean the container you brew the tea in, you should be okay with this. I do recommend storing it in an airtight container like other grains to reduce the risk of spoilage or pests, but even just in the bag in your cupboard, it should be fine.
I doubt it was from this as well, but I would suggest at least putting a chip clip on the bag or using a Ziploc baggie to keep out the cereal/grain bugs.