‘Pop’ Culture: Patent Medicines Become Soda Drinks - CSI Skeptic Authors Steven Salzberg and Joe Nickell to Receive Balles Prize in Critical Thinking June 14, 2013 Forbes columnist Steven Salzberg and author-investigator Joe Nickell will each be awarded the 2012 Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, to be presented by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry at the CFI Summit in October. ‘Pop’ Culture: Patent Medicines Become Soda Drinks Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.1, January/February 2011 Mineral water, including naturally carbonated water, has long been promoted as a curative for various ailments. The soda fountains of yesteryear-a particularly American phenomenon-were in drug stores for a reason. Introduced in pharmacies at the end of the eighteenth century and increasing in the 1830s, they were an effective means of dispensing medications: adding a small amount of flavoring along with some seltzer (effervescent water) made medicine more palatable (New Orleans, n.d.; Mariani 1994, 291).

As part of my studies of snake oil and other cure-alls (Nickell 1998, 2005, 2006)-which ranged over several years and included collecting antique bottles and ephemera and visiting such sites as the Coca-Cola museum-I was struck by the fact that several famous soft drinks had originated as patent medicines, which in turn had their origin in herbal and other folk remedies (see figure 1). Pharmacists claimed the added ingredients “made medicines taste so good, people wanted them, whether they needed them or not, and that's how soft drinks evolved” (New Orleans, n.d.). Figure 1 Advent of Soda ‘Pop' Mineral water, including naturally carbonated water (figure 2), has long been promoted as a curative for various ailments. As early as the beginning of the sixteenth century, scientists tried to duplicate nature's carbonation process. It fell to Dr. Joseph Priestley (discoverer of oxygen) to advance the first practical process in 1772, thus helping to launch the soda-water industry. In time, flavored soda waters caught on.

Figure 2 Some early soda bottles, such as those for English ginger ale, had rounded bottoms, so they could not be stood upright. This prevented their corks from drying out and shrinking, which kept the gas pressure from causing them to “pop.”1 Later “pop” bottles had patented stoppers (again, see figure 2), including the familiar one from 1891 still used today, called the crown cork (a crimped metal cap with a cork liner) (Munsey 1970, 101–10). Root Beer and Sarsaparilla Two plant roots particularly, sarsaparilla and sassafras (figure 1), were early recognized for their potent flavor and presumed medicinal properties. In 1830, in his treatise on medical botany, Constantine Rafinesque described the American sassafras tree (an aromatic member of the laurel family) and its qualities, noting that “Indians use a strong decoction to purge and clear the body in the spring.” Sassafras has long been used as a tea and “home-remedy spring tonic and blood purifier” (Rafinesque 1830).

(I dug the root as a boy in Kentucky, seemingly coming by my interest naturally: my great, great grandparents, Harry and Martha Murphy, were Appalachian herbalists and folk doctors.) Sassafras was an original, major ingredient in many recipes for root beer, which was brewed in the eighteenth century as a mildly alcoholic beverage. Reportedly, in 1870 an unknown pharmacist created a formula that he billed as a cure-all and offered to the public. However, it was not actually marketed until Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires produced a liquid concentrate in small bottles (see figure 3), introducing it at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. By 1893 the Hires family was selling bottled versions of their carbonated drink, thus securing a place in soft drink history (“History” 2010; “Root beer” 2010). One slogan was “Join Health and Cheer/Drink Hires Rootbeer [sic]” (Munsey 1970, 274).

Figure 3 Ironically, in time, root beer's healthfulness was seriously questioned after safrol (a substance in sassafras oil) was found to cause cancer or permanent liver damage in laboratory animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned sassafras oil in 1960, but inventors soon discovered a process to remove the harmful substance while preserving the flavor (“History” 2010). Another common ingredient of root beer was sarsaparilla, which was originally sold for medicinal purposes. As early as 1835, the famous religious society, the Shakers, offered in their herb catalogs a syrup of sarsaparilla touted for a variety of ailments, including digestive troubles, rheumatism, jaundice, “secondary syphilis,” and more. It contained not only sarsaparilla root but dandelion, mandrake, Indian hemp, and other roots, as well as juniper berries and additional ingredients (Miller 1998, 84–85).

Among many famous brands of supposedly curative sarsaparilla were Corbett's (made by Shaker doctor Thomas Corbett), Hood's, and Ayer's (Fike 2006, 214–21).2 Like root beer, sarsaparilla evolved into a soft drink (figure 4), a flavored, carbonated concoction that was in time sold only for its taste (Sioux City Sarsaparilla is a current major brand [“Sarsaparilla” 2010]). Both drinks were original concoctions, predating colas and other popular soda drinks (“History” 2010). Figure 4 Other plant-extract-based drinks, such as birch beer (emerging in the 1880s to compete with root beer), ginger beer, and ginger ale, have histories paralleling root beer and sarsaparilla. Because ginger has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes, ginger ale predates most of the other medicinal soft drinks. Indeed, Vernors brand, said to have originated in 1866, has been called “the first U.S. soft drink” (“Ginger ale” 2010).

Then there was Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray, a celery tonic served in New York delicatessens from 1869 and sold as a bottled soda since 1886 (“Dr. Brown's” 2010). Moxie Among the earliest patent-medicine-turned-soft-drinks was a New England-based variety, now of limited sales but still remembered for the slang expression, “You've got a lot of Moxie”-meaning a lot of pluck or nerve. The drink was created by Dr. Augustin Thompson, who alleged that it contained extracts from a rare South American plant. Thompson claimed that the unnamed botanical was discovered by his “friend,” a Lieutenant Moxie (“Moxie” 2010). Moxie was supposedly a cure for “brain and nervous exhaustion, loss of manhood, imbecility and helplessness, softening of the brain, locomotor ataxia and insanity” (Klein 1999).

Moxie was first formulated circa 1876, but, as its present advertising notes, it has been marketed “Since 1884,” by which time Thompson was selling the bottled drink as well as a bulk syrup intended for soda fountains. Moxie was described as “a delicious blend of bitter and sweet, a drink to satisfy everyone's taste.” Its unique flavor has been attributed to a key ingredient, “Gentian Root Extractives” (“Moxie” 2010)-gentian root is an ingredient of some types of bitters: a medicinal liquor made by steeping certain botanicals in alcohol (Munsey 1970, 111–13; Balch 2002, 70). (Again, see figure 1.) Coca-Cola This classic soft drink originated as a patent medicine selling for five cents a glass at Jacob's pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Because Atlanta and Fulton County had passed prohibition legislation, doctor and pharmacist John S. Pemberton created a non-alcoholic version of a coca wine, then-accidentally it is said-one day added carbonation.

The new drink was soon marketed to other drug-store soda fountains where carbonated water was sold in the belief that it was healthful (seltzers were touted, for example, as a cure for obesity [Munsey 1970, 103]). Pemberton claimed that his Coca-Cola cured such diseases as dyspepsia and impotence (Munsey 1970, 105; “Coca-Cola” 2010). It was billed early as “The Ideal Nerve and Brain Tonic. It Cures Headache, Invigorates the System” (CNBC 2010). Pemberton also claimed the drink cured morphine addiction. In fact, the coca leaf and kola nut (figure 1) used in the drink yielded the addictive substances cocaine and caffeine-hence the name Coca-Cola. However, in time, the small amount of cocaine was reduced and finally eliminated at the turn of the twentieth century (Mariani 1994, 291). (The current product contains only coca flavoring.) Caffeine remained, but in 1912 an amended U.S.

Pure Food and Drug Act required that such “habit-forming” and “deleterious” substances in a product be listed on its label (“Coca-Cola” 2010). Until 1894, the drink was sold exclusively at soda fountains. However, on March 12 of that year, the first Coca-Cola was sold in bottles provided by the Biedenharn Candy Company in Vicksburg, Mississippi. By 1895 the product was distributed throughout the United States and its territories. Cans of the drink were first marketed in 1955 (New Orleans, n.d.; “Coca-Cola” 2010). Pepsi-Cola Coca-Cola's main rival began as a carbonated soft drink first called “Brad's Drink” after its creator, Caleb Bradham of New Bern, North Carolina. At his pharmacy there in 1898, he began to concoct a fountain drink that was intended to both aid digestion and boost energy. Its main ingredients-pepsin (a digestive enzyme) and kola nuts-appear to have prompted its later name, Pepsi-Cola.

Its trademark application was approved in 1903, and Bradham moved his operation to a rented warehouse where, the following year, the drink began to be shipped out in six-ounce bottles. The first logo was created in 1905, then redesigned in 1926 and 1929. In 1931, during the Great Depression, Pepsi went bankrupt (largely due to speculation on sugar prices that fluctuated wildly in the wake of World War I) and its assets and trademark were sold. A second bankruptcy just eight years later put the company in the hands of a candy manufacturer, Loft Inc., whose retail stores had soda fountains. Loft's president, Charles Guth, was miffed at Coke's refusal to lower the price on its syrup and intended to replace Coke with Pepsi. He had his chemists reformulate the syrup formula. In 1936, Pepsi introduced a double-sized, twelve-ounce bottle for ten cents, then responded to slow sales by cutting the price to five cents. During the 1940s, a new president, Walter Mack, targeted the African American market with ethnically positive ads.

In time, Pepsi became a serious rival of Coke (“Pepsi” 2010). Dr Pepper Another popular American soda was first served in about 1885 in Waco, Texas. A concoction created by Charles Alderton, the pharmacist in Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store, the drink was first dubbed a “Waco.” Alderton gave the recipe to the owner, Wade Morrison, who christened it Dr. Pepper (seemingly after Dr. Charles T. Pepper of Christiansburg, Virginia, where Morrison once worked as a young pharmacy clerk). Dr. Pepper was initially sold as an energy drink and “brain tonic.” The drink was not nationally marketed until 1904. In the 1950s, the period punctuating “Dr” was dropped. This was for stylistic reasons as well as to eliminate any suggestion of a medical link to the product, which was called “The Friendly Pepper Upper.” Courts have held that Dr Pepper is not a “cola” but a distinctively flavored drink.

During the early 1980s, after the Dr Pepper company became insolvent, the Federal Trade Commission blocked its acquisition by Coca-Cola; it then merged with Seven Up (to create Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.) (“Dr Pepper” 2010). 7 UP St. Louis businessman Charles L. Grigg launched a new soft drink just two weeks prior to the stock market crash of 1929. Originally called “Bib-label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,” it contained lithium citrate. Lithium is an element found in many mineral springs (mineral water was often bottled and sold for its allegedly healthful properties), and it was once prescribed for many ailments, including gout, rheumatism, and kidney stones. It did little good for these problems, but it is known as a mood-stabilizing drug.

In marketing his drink, Grigg used the slogan, “Takes the ‘ouch' out of grouch.” The drink's name was later changed to “7 UP”-supposedly the “7” indicated its seven-ounce bottle and the “UP” the rising bubbles from its strong carbonation (Klein 1999; “7 UP” 2010; Nickell 2005). Like other such “health” drinks, 7 UP had problems. For example, toxic levels of lithium, which is still used to treat manic depression, are rather near its therapeutic levels (Nickell 2005). By the mid-1940s, lithium was fortunately no longer listed on the 7 UP label.

Over the years the beverage has been reformulated many times: A diet version (called “Like”) was discontinued in 1969 after cyclamate sweetener was banned; the drink's high sodium content was reduced by substituting potassium citrate for sodium citrate; and 7 UP's claim to be “100% Natural” was dropped after the Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue on the grounds that its high-fructose corn syrup resulted from a manufacturing process (“7 UP” 2010; Klein 1999). * *... As these major examples show, popular modern soft drinks evolved from late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century patent medicines. Ironically, the touted medicinal effects were actually somewhere between nonexistent and dangerous, but over the years the harmful effects have been rather consistently addressed. We can now turn our attention elsewhere: to the dubious health and medical claims that continue to proliferate under the term “alternative medicine”-often old-style quackery, even if newly bottled.

n Acknowledgments Kudos to my wife, Diana Gawen Harris, for suggesting the title “‘Pop' Culture” and to my daughter, Cherie Roycroft, for the gift of the rare Kola-Nuces bottle shown in figure 1. I am again grateful to CFI Libraries Director Timothy Binga and librarian Lisa Nolan for their valuable research assistance. Notes 1. English poet Robert Southey in 1812 described ginger ale as “a nectar, between soda water and ginger beer, and called pop because ‘pop goes the cork' when it is drawn” (qtd. in Munsey 1970, 104–5). 2. Although sarsaparilla continues to be promoted by naturopaths and other herbalists as a curative for “a wide range of systemic problems” and is allegedly “especially useful for rheumatoid arthritis” (Naturopathic 1995, 119), peer-reviewed research generally fails to support the claims (“Sarsaparilla” 2010). References Balch, Phyllis A. 2002. Prescription for Herbal Healing. New York: Avery. CNBC Original Productions.

The Real Story Behind the Real Thing. Aired March 13, 2010. . “Coca-Cola.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 6, 2010. Available online at “Dr. Brown's.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 6, 2010. Available online at “Dr Pepper.” Wikipedia. Accessed March 15, 2010. Available online at Fike, Richard E. 2006. The Bottle Book: A Comprehensive Guide to Historic, Embossed Medicine Bottles. Chadwell, NJ: Blackburn Press. “Ginger ale.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 7, 2010. Available online at “History of Rootbeer.” Accessed March 12, 2010. Available online at Klein, Victor C. 1999. New Orleans Ghosts II. Metairie, LA: Lycanthrope Press. Mariani, John F. 1994. The Dictionary of American Food and Drink. New York: Hearst Books. Miller, Amy Bess. 1998. Shaker Medicinal Herbs: A Compendium of History, Lore, and Uses.

Pownal, VT: Storey Books. “Moxie.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 6, 2010. Available online at Munsey, Cecil. 1970. The Illustrated Guide to Collecting Bottles. New York: Hawthorn Books. Naturopathic Handbook of Herbal Formulas, 4th ed. 1995. Ayer, MA: Herbal Research Publications. New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. n.d. 19th Century Patent Medicines. Reprinted in Klein 1999. Nickell, Joe. 1998. Peddling snake oil. Skeptical Briefs 8(4) (December): 1–2, 13. ---. 2005. Healing waters: Spas. Skeptical Briefs 15(3) (September): 5–7. ---. 2006. Snake oil: A guide for connoisseurs. Skeptical Briefs 16(3) (September): 7–8. “Pepsi.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 6, 2010. Available online at Rafinesque, Constantine. 1830.

Medical Flora, a Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States.... In The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living, by Richard Lucas, 71. West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing, 1978. “Root beer.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 6, 2010. Available online at “Sarsaparilla.” Wikipedia. Accessed March 12, 2010. Available online at “Sassafras.” Wikipedia. Accessed March 12, 2010. Available online at “7 UP.” Wikipedia. Accessed April 6, 2010. Available online at Joe Nickell Joe Nickell, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and "Investigative Files" Columnist for Skeptical Inquirer. A former stage magician, private investigator, and teacher, he is author of numerous books, including Inquest on the Shroud of Turin (1998), The Roots in Root Beer The Root in Root Beer Root beer is a soft drink that was originally made with a mixture of different herbs and roots.

The main root that gave root beer its distinct flavor is sassafras root. Therefore, sassafras root can be considered the 'root' in root beer. However, as there is a mixture of roots in root beer it is also correct to say that there is no one "root beer root". In the 1960's, the FDA declared the oil in sassafras roots to be carcinogenic, so artificial sassafras flavors are used. There are still many different roots that continue to be used in different root beers such as licorice root, dandelion root, and ginger root to name a few. A list of root beer ingredients can be found below. It will be updated regularly until every possible root beer ingredient is listed. All ingredients can be found in at least one brand of root beer. Observed Root Beer Ingredients Corn Syrup (regular and high fructose) Glucose Syrup Sucralose (in addition to full sugar) Dextrose The Straight Dope: Whatever happened to the soft drink sarsaparilla? A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's Storehouse of Human Knowledge Whatever happened to the soft drink sarsaparilla?

December 16, 1977 Dear Cecil: Ever since I was a kid, I have seen references to sarsaparilla. All the kids in western and nineteenth-century stories were always drinking it. It seemed to be very popular, and I've always wondered: how come you can't get it today? — Garth G., Phoenix Cecil replies: Sarsaparilla is still around, but it takes a little poking to turn it up. The drink, which tastes a great deal like root beer, is still popular in some parts of the U.S. — the folks in Pittsburgh, I understand, are crazy about the stuff. Although none of the major soft-drink manufacturers markets a national brand, all continue to make the flavor base available to any local bottler who cares to market sarsaparilla on his own. Many cities have a specialty store or two that carries these brands; ask around. You might think that sarsaparilla would be made from extract of the sarsaparilla plant, a tropical vine distantly related to the lily, but you'd be wrong.

It was originally made (artificial flavors have taken over now, of course) from a blend of birch oil and sassafras, the dried root bark of the sassafras tree. Sassafras was widely used as a home remedy in the nineteenth century — taken in sufficient doses, it induces sweating, which some people thought was a good thing. Sarsaparilla apparently made its debut as a patent medicine, an easy-to-take form of sassafras, much as Coca-Cola was first marketed in 1885 as a remedy for hangovers and headaches. Why isn't sarsaparilla popular anymore? Basically, it just lost out to cola, like almost every other flavor you could name. Root beer, sarsaparilla's closest cousin and once America's most popular soft drink, now accounts for less than 4 percent of the national market. Sarsaparilla's share is too small to be measured. — Cecil Adams Encyclopedia Rootannica: Frequently Asked Questions About Root Beer What's in root beer?

In addition to sassafras flavor, root beer often has other flavorings, including anise, burdock, cinnamon, dandelion, ginger, juniper, spikenard / sarsaparilla, vanilla, wintergreen, and / or yellow dock and sweetened with aspartame, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, and, most commonly sugar. Although originally carbonated with yeast, most modern root beer brands are artificially carbonated. Most brands of root beer contain sodium benzoate as a preservative. - photo of full grown Sassafras tree courtesy Montgomery County (Ohio) Public Library Does root beer have caffeine? Unlike tea, coffee and chocolate, root beer does not naturally contain caffeine. In recent years, many brands advertised "caffeine-free" prominently on packaging to avoid comparison with colas, which normally contain caffeine. However, at least 2 currently available brands, Coca-Cola's Barq's and Skeleteen Beverage's Rat Bastard have added caffeine. Does root beer have salicylates?

Many brands of root beer contain flavorings that are listed on the Fibromyalgia Treatment Center's One Thousand of the Most Common Natural Salicylates to Avoid including anise, cinnamon, clover, corn syrup, ginger, honey, sarsaparilla, sassafras (the main flavoring in root beer), vanilla, wintergreen, and yucca. HOWEVER, since sassafras was declared to be carcinogenic, an artificial flavoring was developed that is now commonly used in most root beer. Usually, but unfortunately not always, if a brand of root beer contains one of these other ingredients, the label says so. There appear to be 2 issues with salicylates: salicylate sensitivity and fibromyalgia (are these, in fact, the same?). According to the same Fibromyalgia Treatment Center, these 1000 items, "if not concentrated, will be eliminated in your digestive system" when eaten. But, according to The Feingold Program , "Those who are extremely sensitive to salicylates, or who exhibit signs of eye muscle disorder may need to restrict benzoates." MOST carbonated beverages, including root beer, use sodium benzoate as a preservative.

All of these things combined make root beer (and most soft drinks) a good candidate for relatively high salicylic content. Does root beer cause cancer? Most likely, no. In 1960, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of sassafras oil in commercially mass-produced foods and drugs (like root beer) after laboratory animals (rats) that were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained large doses of safrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer. As a result, root beer makers switched to artificial sassafras flavorings. In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act eliminated the ban on sassafras oil as a dietary supplement. Microbrewers might still use sassafras, but it is not known to be used in any commercial brands. Does root beer cause thrombocytopenia (decrease in blood platelets)? Also in 1994 (a coincidence - or a root beer conspiracy?), the FDA published a study that implicated quillaia as a "causative agent" in thrombocytopenia.

Quillaia has been used as a foaming agent in some brands of root beer and other carbonated beverages and in low-alcohol beers, as well as a skin treatment, in some laundry detergents, dandruff shampoos, frozen dairy desserts, candy, baked goods, gelatins and puddings. However, in 2005, the FDA stated that normal levels of quillaia are safe . Is sarsaparilla different from root beer? (sarsaparilla photo right courtesy Wellesley University) Since sarsaparilla (botanical Aralia nudicaulis, Spanish sarza - bramble or shrub, parilla - vine, also called Smilax), also called sassparilla (sassafras & sarsaparilla) and sas'parilla, is almost always flavored primarily with sassafras, and the additional spice of sarsaparilla (and very few people can taste any difference between sarsaparilla and root beer made by the same company), Root Beer World considers sarsaparilla to be root beer. For a different view, see Sarsaparilla vs. Root Beer .

Nova Scotia sarsaparilla photo left courtesy of Is birch beer different from root beer? Birch beer is similar to root beer, but is flavored with the bark of the birch tree and does not contain sassafras. Birch beer is popular from eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey to New England, but is more difficult to find elsewhere. Although some accept a wider definition of "root beer" that includes any carbonated beverage made with any roots, bark, etc., including birch beer (sometimes called "red root beer"), Root Beer World stands by the definition that the primary flavor in root beer is sassafras. Thus birch beer is different from root beer. For more information on birch beer, see Anthony's Root Beer Barrel . What else is made with root beer? All kinds of products have been made with root beer or root beer extract: candy, popcorn, cough drops, even shampoo. Check out The Root Beer Gourmet for recipes for homemade root beer, entrees, side dishes and deserts - full meals can be prepared with root beer but don't overdo it - everything in moderation... Why does root beer taste funny? Probably the tooth paste you used before trying root beer!

Seriously, though, people respond to different tastes in different ways. Don't assume that all brands taste like medicine or bubble gum because one brand does. The variety of flavorings and sweeteners used in root beer increases the range of different tastes as well as responses to those tastes. What makes root beer frothy? Although sassafras roots and bark may contain natural foaming agents, additional foaming agents such as yucca or quillaja extracts, are often added to increase root beer's froth, head or foaminess. How do I carbonate root beer? Root beer may be carbonated naturally or artificially. Natural carbonation occurs when yeast eats sugar, creating carbon dioxide gas. Modern methods frequently inject carbon dioxide gas into an root beer mixture or carbonated water is mixed with root beer syrup (as with a soda fountain). Where can I get root beer in kegs? Many microbrewers who make root beer in addition to beer and serve draft root beer will either keg root beer or sell it in "growlers" - half gallon glass brewer's bottles. If you want to make your own root beer, you can also buy or rent keg equipment and keg your own..

Check out a local homebrew supply store or an online retailer like Northern Brewer . Where can I get root beer extract? Find root beer extract at local markets and home brew supply stores or order it online from The Cajun Connection , Northern Brewer , Northwestern Extract Where can I find <brand> root beer? Although many brands are available nationally (and some internationally), most are regional and even more are local or single location. Those in search of new brands should look in grocery stores and gas stations, liquor stores and specialty markets. Most brewers list availability on their websites and will also ship, usually by the case and only domestically (it's quite expensive to ship beverages internationally). Soon, the Yellow Froth Pages brand database will begin to include availability for individual brands, if known. Eventually, we'd like to provide availability by state or country. Can I get root beer in <country>? Check the Yellow Froth Pages brand database for brands by country. Although Cadbury Schweppes, based in England, owns the distribution rights for four of the most well-known US brands (A&W, Hires, IBC and Stewart's), none of these brands is currently available in the UK. In fact, Coca-Cola has the international distribution rights for these brands.

Both A&W and Dad's have been found in Asia. In addition to searching for additional international brands, we're hoping to hear from the major beverage distributors on their brands' international availability. Do they still make <brand> root beer? Many classic brands are still being made, including A&W, Dad's, Frostie, Hires, Mason's and others. Others have disappeared. We hope to add availability information to the Yellow Froth Pages soon. How much is my old root beer <fill in the blank> worth? At any give time, hundreds of root beer collectibles can be found on auction sites like eBay. Unless the brand or item is extremely rare, its value is largely determined by the type and condition of the item and its logo. We do no appraise the value of specific items - feel free to research an item's history on various auction sites to determine its true value. Homemade Sassafras Root Beer Recipe | SimplyRecipes.com Print Photography Credit: Elise Bauer Every summer I head east to spend some time with my goddaughter Piper and her sisters Alden and Reilly on the Massachusetts shore south of Cape Cod.

In what has now become a yearly tradition, we dig for clams to make stuffies , pick rose hips for rose hip jelly , and gather sassafras roots for homemade root beer. Credit for the root beer goes to Hank Shaw who taught me all about how to make root beer from sassafras on one of his return trips from the east coast. Sassafras grows wild all over the eastern United States and Canada and was the traditional root for what we call root beer here. Before I get into the details about how to identify the plant and how to make the root beer, a disclaimer is in order. The key ingredient in sassafras is safrole, which the FDA banned for commercial use in food in the early 60s because studies found that rats fed enormous amounts of the stuff developed cancer or liver damage. But here’s the rub. According to a government agency that extrapolates human exposure needed based on rodent carcinogens (see the links below the recipe), if you drank a sassafras root beer a day, you would still have much less carcinogenic risk than if you drank beer or wine.

You would have to drink a LOT of this stuff over a long period of time for there to be a problem, and at those amounts, the sugar in that much root beer would probably be much more toxic for you than the safrole. So remember my mom’s advice, “all things in moderation”. Disclaimer over. So, if you’ve decided to dance on the wild side and join us in this sassafras adventure, you’ll need to find some sassafras. (Apologies to the westerners among us, you won’t find sassafras growing out here, it only grows in the east.) Hank has a great explanation on his site as to what to look for . The sassafras plant grows to be a small bushy tree, that likes the shade under the canopy of larger trees. We found our sassafras plants right at the edge of the backyard where it met a wooded area. You can usually find three shapes of leaves on the plant, single oval-ish leaves, mitten-shaped leaves, and leaves with three-lobes. The plants do resemble young oak trees, but the key difference is in the leaves. You’ll find two or three different shapes of leaves growing on a sassafras.

The plants tend to grow in clumps. Look for seedlings a few feet high. They’ll be the easiest to pull and their roots the easiest to cut. Once pulled, rinse off the dirt, wrap the roots in a paper towel and store in a plastic bag in the fridge until you are ready to make your root beer. If you have any doubts as to whether or not you have picked sassafras, just break a stem and smell it, or smell the roots. They smell just like root beer. Alden next to a perfectly sized sassafras sapling, and my nephew Austin holding the root. Traditionally root beer is fermented, hence the word “beer”. Our version is not fermented, but you could do that if you wanted to. Here’s a great blog post by Vaughnshire Farm on how to make fermented sassafras root beer . Our version is much more simple. Just boil the roots with some spices and molasses, strain, add sugar, and store as a syrup. Mix the syrup with soda water to make the root beer. My friend and Simply Recipes contributor Steve-Anna grew up making sassafras root beer this way in Alabama. How about you?

If you grew up making sassafras root beer, please tell us about it in the comments. · 1 Reply Ittiz Great post! Growing up I used to hate commercially manufactured Rootbeer. Decades later, after I bought a house in southern NH, I was walking down the road and noticed skinny tress with mitten shaped leaves growing all along the ditches. Not long after I found similar trees growing all over my property. So I decided to look up what they were. I found out about Rootbeer and how the use of the trees was banned ect ect… and basically how the Rootbeer I hated as a kid, wasn’t real Rootbeer since they weren’t allow to put Sassafras in it! I also learned that some manufacturers put anise or fennel in it (a flavor I despise). After that I set out to make my own real Rootbeer, just to find out if I really like the flavor. I read about how safrole was “carcinogenic” but I’m a molecular biologist, so I decided to read the studies that “proved” it in order to understand their reasoning.

Basically what I found was that the carcinogenicity in rats was extremely low (this is what the HERP value is based on). Beyond that I found that humans don’t have the same issues with Safrole that rats do (rat’s livers process the chemical creating carcinogenic byproducts that human livers do not) so in reality Safrole is even less carcinogenic to humans than the HERP value suggests. After reading the current research I felt completely safe making my own root beer (similar to yours, minus anise). I have to say I liked it! People shouldn’t be worried about Sassafras. One of the big incentives to ban it is Safrole is a precursor for other controlled drugs they don’t want people to have (same reason real Sudafed is hard to get these days). No one should be worried! Enjoy your Rootbeer and Sassafras Tea, cancer free! Sassafras beer: a short history – Via Negativa 8 The small tree known as sassafras ( Sassafras albidum ) was once one of the most prized plants of North America.

In 1565, Francis Drake returned to England with a cargo hold full of sassafras roots, and set off something of a craze for sassafras tea, or saloop. By the next century it had become a major export item, almost equal in value to tobacco. Europeans accepted the claims of most eastern Indian tribes about its effectiveness as an all-purpose medicine and tonic, and that combined with its wonderful taste and aroma — Thoreau called it “the fragrance of lemons and a thousand spices” — eventually guaranteed its place as the root in root beer. John Lawson, an early explorer of the southern Appalachians, wrote in 1709, “Sassafras was a straight, neat little tree… treasured by the Indians for its aromatic roots, from which, when pounded, a potion can be brewed to refresh or cure, according to his needs.” Early colonists consumed a lot of beer, and it probably didn’t take long before someone got the bright idea of adding sassafras roots to the mix of herbs and spices typically added for flavor and medicinal effect.

It might seem strange to think of beer as a health drink, but for many centuries, it was far safer to drink than most available sources of fresh water, being first subjected to a prolonged boil and then made alcoholic. Weak beers were consumed in roughly the same quantities as Americans today drink Coke or Pepsi, but with less serious health risks, since the sugar was all turned into alcohol. The modern herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner (Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, Brewers Publications, 1998) has this to say about brewing with sassafras: Sassafras was the original herb used in all “root” beers. They were all originally alcoholic, and along with a few other medicinal beers — primarily spruce beers — were considered “diet” drinks, that is, beers with medicinal actions intended for digestion, blood tonic action and antiscorbutic properties. The original “root” beers contained sassafras, wintergreen flavorings (usually from birch sap), and cloves or oil of cloves. Though Rafinesque notes [in 1829] the use of leaves and buds, the root bark is usually used, both traditionally and in contemporary herbal practice.

“Beer” was used loosely to refer to a variety of lightly alcoholic drinks made with whatever sugar was on hand; both the recipes Buhner offers, for example, use molasses instead of malted grain, as does this one I found in The National Farmer’s and Housekeepers Cyclopedia from 1888: Root Beer.—To make Ottawa root beer, take one ounce each of sassafras, allspice, yellow dock, and wintergreen, half an ounce each of wild cherry bark and coriander, a quarter of an ounce of hops, and three quarts of molasses. Pour boiling water on the ingredients, and let them stand twenty-four hours. Filter the liquor, and add half a pint of yeast, and it will be ready for use in twenty-four hours. I was excited to see the mention of wild cherry bark — something I had considered using in my own brewing, but hadn’t found any actual mention of until now. I have brewed with all the other substances mentioned, though not all at the same time.

(I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the flavor of yellow dock in beer.) But I’m more of a purist than Buhner: I do insist upon using malted grain (or malt extract) as the primary source of sugar, though I will use molasses or honey as adjuncts, in small quantities. And I feel the early colonists probably made their root beers, spruce beers, and other healthful brews with malt, too, whenever they could. From an early date, many larger farmhouses had their own brewing operations, and taverns brewed beer in every town and village, first with malts imported from Europe, but quite soon from locally grown grain. A 1685 report from William Penn suggests that malt was substituted for molasses as soon as real brewing became practical: Our Drink has been Beer and Punch, made of Rum and Water: Our Beer was mostly made of Molosses, which well boyld, with Sassafras or Pine infused into it, makes very tollerable drink; but now they make Mault, and Mault Drink begins to be common, especially at the Ordinaries and the Houses of the more substantial People.

In 1750, the Swedish botanist Peter Kalm, interviewing a nonagenarian for his book Travels in North America, learned that the early Swedish colonists of what is now eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey had been “plentifully provided with wheat, rye, barley and oats.

The Swedes, at that time, brewed all their beer of malt made of barley, and likewise made good strong beer.” And of sassafras specifically, he wrote, “Some people peel the root, and boil the peel with the beer which they may be brewing, because they believe it wholesome.” He adds: “The peel is put into brandy, either while it is distilling or after it is made.” Nor was ordinary tea neglected: “An old Swede remembered that his mother cured many people of the dropsy by a decoction of the root of sassafras in water drunk every morning.” Kalm also mentions the preservative and antiseptic properties of sassafras, which must’ve played a role in its popularity as a brewing ingredient as well (hops were far from the only herb understood to help keep beer from going “off”): Several of the Swedes wash and scour the vessels in which they intend to keep cider, beer or brandy with water in which sassafras root or its peel has been boiled, which they think renders all those liquors more wholesome.

Some people have their bedposts made of sassafras wood to repel the bed bugs, for its strong scent, it is said, prevents vermin from settling in them. … In Pennsylvania some people put chips of sassafras into their chests where they keep woolen stuffs, in order to expel the moths which commonly settle in them in summer. A slightly later (and much more famous) botanist-traveler, William Bartram, mentioned a very different root beer formula from the standard recipe, which makes me wonder how many other sassafras-based concoctions might have been made at one time. Writing about a southern Appalachian plant now known as Bignonia capreolata or crossvine, he wrote, “The country people of Carolina chop these vines to pieces, together with china brier [i.e. Smilax pseudochina ] and sassafras roots, and boil them in their beer in the spring, for diet drink, in order to attenuate and purify the blood and juices.” Lo how the mighty have fallen. Safrole, the active compound in sassafras, has been banned by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration since 1976 as a supposed carcinogen, and as a consequence sassafras may no longer be prescribed by herbalists, though commercial brewers and root beer manufacturers may still use a safrole-free extract. For the homebrewer willing to ignore the FDA’s finding — which even the very conservative Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America rejects as absurd — it’s a matter of locating a thick stand of sassafras on some dry ridgetop and getting permission from the landowner to dig a few roots. The tree grows like a weed, and with its distinctive leaves it’s impossible to mistake for anything else. How will you be able to tell if a given root is sassafras, and not from a neighboring tree? Just scratch and sniff. If it has “the fragrance of lemons and a thousand spices,” you’ve hit pay dirt. UPDATE (19 Nov. 2014): For a recipe, see Sassafras-Black Birch Beer . Share this: Add to Bookmarks I am glad I didn't know the dangers of chewing on the twigs of the sassafras tree when I was a child.

One small twig would last for hours, and since candy was not always available, I stashed sassafras twigs just like a little one might hide his Halloween candy, far away from hungry eyes. (Editor's Note: This article was originally published on February 9, 2010. Your comments are welcome, but please be aware that authors of previously published articles may not be able to respond to your questions.) It broke my heart to read a few years ago that the USFDA had declared sassafras oil as unsafe because of determinations that the safrole in the oil is a potential carcinogen. It didn't break my heart because I was concerned that all the sassafras twigs that I chewed might harm me, it broke my heart to think that I might not be allowed to chew on another one. I wondered if I would have to go into hiding. Let me tell you about sassafras twigs. If I went into my guest closet and dug around in the little cedar chest of my childhood that's buried somewhere in its depths, I would find sassafras twigs right now.

They could very easily be petrified, so long have I had them, but they are there, just in case of a sassafras emergency. You see, I collected them and chewed them like candy when I was growing up. I chewed them until my Granny Ninna told me that boys might not like girls who chewed sassafras twigs. That wouldn't really have mattered much to me, but I didn't think it would match my gorgeous teal prom dress, so I gave up sassafras twigs, but only for special occasions. You just can't grow up in the mountains and not taste things. Green blades of grass, tiny pieces of sour grass with its yellow blossoms, dirt, poplar leaves that popped out loud when I sucked them, rocks, and sassafras twigs. My great Aunt Bett used to dig for pieces of the root, she made tea from it and drank it daily. I'd rather smell the scent of the tea than drink it, but I was never without a twig of sassafras. I have heard that when the Spanish arrived in Florida in the early days, they mistook the fragrant sassafras for a cinnamon tree.

Sassafras albidum is a native of eastern North America, and is often considered the only spice from this country. It grows in woods, along roadsides and in fields from Ontario south to Florida and Texas and as far west as Missouri. It is an aromatic deciduous tree, averaging 10 to 40 feet tall, with a rough gray bark. It has bright green alternate leaves, and they look much like green suede, but they can light the world with the flame of their colors in autumn. The leaves have one to three lobes, and the greenish yellow flowers bloom from April through June, before the leaves appear. The fruits are bluish and shaped much like peas. The local Indians used the bark of the sassafras roots to treat fevers and rheumatism, and as a general tonic and blood purifier. Blood purifiers were those that acted as a diuretic, thus cleansing the blood of all impurities. Word of sassafras's amazing curative powers reached Europe by way of the settlers, and for a time it became a major colonial export, second only to tobacco. The Europeans soon discovered sassafras tea, and it quickly became a fashionable beverage.

An oil extracted from the tree remained in use as an antiseptic for dentistry and as a flavoring for toothpastes, root beer, and chewing gum until the early 1960's. At about that time the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that the chemical compound safrole, found in the oil of the bark was a potential carcinogen. I am glad my older relatives never knew that, most of them lived to be a ripe old age, drinking sassafras tea every single day of their lives. Not so long ago, my husband's aunt, a woman in her 80's at the time, called me from Hawaii and asked if I knew where a sassafras tree grew. Well, for goodness' sakes, of course I knew where some grew, and I told her so. Very soon I was on my way to Bardstown to visit a much loved tree of my childhood. It grew in the front yard of my great grandmother's home, and spread its limbs precariously close to the roof. I don't know how old it was, but I remember when I was very small, I was chewing on its tasty twigs.

I gathered some bark for my husband's Aunt Hazel, and my uncle helped me dig around to find some small sections of root. Aunt Hazel was very happy, and I had enough twigs to replenish my own stash. She was in her upper 80's at the time, so I was not too worried about it contributing to her ultimate demise. At one time the root beer of my childhood was flavored with sassafras. No more, of course, will your root beer be the same as your mother's, because sassafras is no longer used. One of the old Adams' chewing gums had a sassafras flavoring. Thomas Adams used chicle (a rubbery tree sap from the Sapodilla trees of Mexico) flavored with sassafras and licorice, shaped it into little balls, and in 1871 he patented a gum making machine, which would flatten and cut those balls into strips which he sold to pharmacies. The pharmacists sliced a stick at a time and sold it as a product of the American Chicle Company. The company and the gums are still around today, but without the flavor of sassafras.

Those of us who are as old as or older than the baby boomers know all about those root beer and gums with sassafras flavoring. We can tell you all about it. Sassafras is no longer used as flavoring. The source of that flavor came from the roots of the sassafras tree. The leaves are still dried and used in file', a spice used in flavoring gumbo. The dried leaf products do not contain the safrole that is evident in the roots. It still breaks my heart to think of losing that flavor, it is something that I can only tell my 5 year old grandson about. Now having told you all I know about sassafras, I think I will take a little break, open the door of my guest room closet, and take a deep breath just to inhale the scent that comes from my little cedar chest right there on the floor. Ummmm, sassafras, there's nothing like it. Please just take my word for this one, and don't try it yourself. Twigs of sassafras don't go well with your health, nor with your prom dresses. SASSAFRAS Overview Information Sassafras is a plant.

The root bark is used to make medicine. Despite serious safety concerns, sassafras is used for urinary tract disorders, swelling in the nose and throat, syphilis , bronchitis , high blood pressure in older people, gout , arthritis , skin problems, and cancer . It is also used as a tonic and “ blood purifier.” Some people apply sassafras directly to the skin to treat skin problems , achy joints (rheumatism), swollen eyes , sprains, and insect bites or stings. Sassafras oil is also applied to the skin to kill germs and head lice . In beverages and candy, sassafras was used in the past to flavor root beer. It was also used as a tea. But sassafras tea contains a lot of safrole, the chemical in sassafras that makes it poisonous. One cup of tea made with 2.5 grams of sassafras contains about 200 mg of safrole. That equates to a dose of about 3 mg of safrole per 1 kg of body weight . This is about 4.5 times the dose that researchers think is poisonous.

So, in 1976, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that sassafras could no longer be sold as sassafras tea. How does it work? There isn't enough information available to know how sassafras works. SASSAFRAS Uses & Effectiveness More evidence is needed to rate the effectiveness of sassafras for these uses. SASSAFRAS Side Effects & Safety Sassafras seems safe in foods and beverages if it is “safrole-free.” However, it is UNSAFE for use as a medicine. Don’t take it by mouth or put it on your skin. The safrole in sassafras root bark and oil can cause cancer and liver damage. Consuming just 5 mL of sassafras oil can kill an adult. Even “safrole-free” sassafras used in medicinal amounts has been linked with tumors. Sassafras can cause sweating and hot flashes . High amounts can cause vomiting , high blood pressure, hallucinations, and more severe side effects. It can cause skin rashes when used on the skin.

Special Precautions & Warnings: It is UNSAFE for anyone to use sassafras in medicinal amounts, but some people have extra reasons not to use it: Pregnancy and breast -feeding: Don’t use sassafras if you are pregnant. There is evidence that sassafras oil might cause a miscarriage . Children: Sassafras is UNSAFE for children. A few drops of sassafras oil may be deadly. Surgery: In medicinal amounts, sassafras can slow down the central nervous system . This means it can cause sleepiness and drowsiness. When combined with anesthesia and other medications used during and after surgery, it might slow down the central nervous system too much. Stop using sassafras at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery. Urinary tract conditions: Sassafras might make these conditions worse. SASSAFRAS Interactions Moderate Interaction Be cautious with this combination Sedative medications (CNS depressants) interacts with SASSAFRAS Sassafras might cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Medications that cause sleepiness are called sedatives. Taking sassafras along with sedative medications might cause too much sleepiness.

Some sedative medications include clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), phenobarbital (Donnatal), zolpidem (Ambien), and others. SASSAFRAS Dosing The appropriate dose of sassafras depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for sassafras. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using. Your Sassafras Has Been Neutered - Chowhound Your Sassafras Has Been Neutered By Traci Vogel , published on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 / Edit Post Early 20th-century root beer used to be made from, among other things, sassafras root. Sassafras albidum, native to all states east of the Mississippi River, comes from the Laurel family, which also includes bay, camphor, and cinnamon.

Native Americans used sassafras leaves to make tea, and the bark as a cooking spice. But it was the drink flavored with oil from the roots—thought to cure syphilis—that was especially popular with Spanish explorers in the 16th century. (It became the New World’s second most popular export after tobacco.) Today, however, most commercial root beer recipes have parted ways with sassafras. That’s because the root bark contains safrole, a volatile oil that the FDA banned as a potential carcinogen in the 1960s. According to Foster S. Tyler’s Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies, “It has been estimated that one cup of strong sassafras [root] tea could contain as much as 200 mg of safrole, more than four times the minimal amount believed hazardous to humans if consumed on a regular basis.” More recent studies by the U.S.

National Toxicology Program, however, found that it took a dose of 2,350 mg to reach a “toxic endpoint” (that is, where 50 percent of the animals died) in mice, which puts safrole in the “slightly toxic” category. Since there have been no human studies, nobody really knows what levels might be dangerous to people. If the safrole hasn’t been removed, it can be legally sold only as a topical skin wash or as “aromatic potpourri.” Root beers that list sassafras as an ingredient today, such as those made by Hansen’s Natural Soda or Thomas Kemper , use a safrole-free extract. Some purists swear this fiddling has ruined the taste, but Jack Mitchell, chef and proprietor of Sassafras restaurant in Santa Rosa, California, says, “I can almost guarantee that you cannot tell a difference.” Besides, Mitchell says, today’s root beers go heavy on the vanilla and honey, which is what the modern palate is attuned to. It’s still possible to find sassafras root bark being sold as a tea or as a folk remedy for lice, skin inflammations, and arthritis.

If the safrole hasn’t been removed, it can be legally sold only as a topical skin wash or as “aromatic potpourri.” Traditionalists, however, think that safrole’s health benefits outweigh its dangers; stores that continue to sell sassafras with safrole, such as the Penn Herb Co. Ltd. , list its traditional uses but include the warning, “Item considered unsafe as a food by the FDA.” Since these items are sold as dietary supplements, not as food, they’re not regulated by the FDA. Powdered sassafras leaves are still sold as file , a thickening spice for gumbo, and are categorized as “generally recognized as safe,” according to FDA spokesman Mike Herndon, because they don’t contain a significant amount of safrole. Yet another interesting sassafras discovery: Safrole is the main ingredient in the production of the designer drug ecstasy. The oil’s chemical structure is just one molecule of ammonia away from being an amphetamine. It’s currently categorized as a List 1 chemical under the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act, which means that anyone manufacturing it must be registered with the DEA, and the purchase of it in large quantities will lead to a knock on your door.

Of course, if the agent turns out to be nice, you could always take him for a root beer float.

Question: What beverage was originally flavored with sassafras?
Answer: Root Beer