Safrole-free extract of sassafras
Safrole-free extract of sassafrasSassafras extract is permitted as a flavouring only with safrole removed. The whole root bark was banned for food use in the United States in 1960, which is why traditional root beer no longer tastes as it did.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Permitted, with conditions | 21 CFR 172.580retrieved 2026-09-07 | |
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
What it is made from
Extracted from sassafras root bark, then processed to remove safrole, the compound that led to the ban.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Every name it appears under
1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.
As it appears in regulation
- Safrole-free extract of sassafras
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Sources for this page
- ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07
Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.
Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/safrole-free-extract-of-sassafras.json