Although its amount appears significant in kombucha, cane sugar is food for the culture. Cane sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide. Yeast converts sucrose into its monosaccharide components, fructose and glucose, resulting in a lower glycemic impact. The yeast further digests these simple sugars, producing carbon dioxide and ethanol. Most ethanol gasses off and some is food for beneficial bacteria, which produce acetic acid. There is typically very little sugar remaining by the time the sweet tea becomes kombucha. However, since sugar appears on the ingredient list in order of descending measure, regardless of its having been converted, this does cause some confusion.