General Question

lapilofu's avatar

Is sassafras carcinogenic?

Asked by lapilofu (4325points) November 3rd, 2010

I want to brew some homemade root beer, but apparently sassafras is potentially a carcinogen? The studies seem pretty inconclusive about whether it actually causes cancer in humans, but it was enough for the FDA to make it a controlled substance. Anyone knowledgeable about these sorts of things: should I actually be worried or should I just go ahead and do it?

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7 Answers

El_Cadejo's avatar

I learned in my herbal medicine class that it was indeed carcinogenic. Im sorry I dont have more info than that though, I never ever really looked into it. But if your indeed looking to brew root beer there are plenty of other things you can use aside from sassafras and still make an amazing root beer. I’d try following virgils recipe. You could also use sarsaparilla, that tastes pretty good.

The_Idler's avatar

I suspect the risk was exaggerated to justify the control of it, which is more likely to be due to its potential as a precursor in the manufacture of MDMA.

mrentropy's avatar

I would love some sarsaparilla soda while playing Fallout: New Vegas, so make some of that. And let me have some.

The wiki page for sassafras says that any root with the safrole removed is OK and widely used.

El_Cadejo's avatar

@The_Idler is it really? I had no fucking clue. You got some more info on this?

crisw's avatar

You can get sassafras extract that has the carcinogenic stuff removed.

The_Idler's avatar

@uberbatman

MDMA synth The second tech uses isosafrole as a starting material.

El_Cadejo's avatar

@The_Idler beautiful. Thank you much.

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