Sourcing Ingredients

[Lady tehMa]

I'd like to try making home-brewed rootbeer. The recipe I want to try calls for Sassafrass root and Sasparilla root. I tried Michael's Brew House on Spall, they don't have anything.

Any ideas where I could get this locally? I know that I can get it from the net . . .

[alanjh595]

Sassafras is no longer considered safe for human consumption, especially when safrole oil is included. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently prohibits sassafras bark, oil, and safrole as flavorings or food additives. ... The FDA banned sassafras use in 1979 following research that showed it caused cancer in rats.Nov 14, 2017

https://www.google.com/search?q=Sassafr ... e&ie=UTF-8

[Lady tehMa]

This is the recipe:
https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/water-kefir-recipes/easy-lacto-fermented-root-beer/?fbclid=IwAR0Nn2Sf1sXn8TyUslBIDprMyNZ_xSCYqmHWn0etJJ-KNG_vrxjcfbkqGis

From the article:

All commercially produced root beer contains artificial flavouring because sassafras, the herb that gives root beer its characteristic flavour, was banned as an ingredient in any commercial beverage after scientists discovered the active ingredient in sassafras, safrole, made lab rats more prone to cancer when they were fed very large amounts of it. The dried root can still be purchased to use for making tea, though. Historically, sassafras tea has been used in folk medicine for generations. If you choose to purchase and use dried sassafras for making root beer, keep in mind it may not be advisable to drink huge quantities on a daily basis.

[Catsumi]

Those damned fragile lab rats! I bet lettuce overdoses would kill the buggars too, but just try to wipe them out with sure-fire rodent poison!

If you can drink tea made with it and not sprout an extra cranium, why the hell can't you make rootbeer from it and drink it in normal quantities like an adult?

It's not like you were to engorge a bathtub full daily.

The Nanny State strikes again.

Mutter, mutter.....

[Jlabute]

No wonder I haven’t seen root beer extract on grocery store shelves for a number of years.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Root-Beer-Flavor-Extract-1-oz-ZIN-529533/596826633

[Catsumi]

Your point, Jlabute dearie? Your point is ?