My neighbor leaned over the fence by the woods-edge corner and nodded at the saplings. He asked if you can still get the real sassafras root his grandparents brewed each spring. The short answer I gave him is the same one for you. You can buy sassafras root and plenty of related goods today. But the strong oil that gives it that classic smell is banned from food. So the root sold for drinking is treated first to take that part out.
The thing that got banned is a compound called safrole. It is the main oil inside sassafras roots and bark, and it carries most of that root beer aroma. Studies in the late 1950s tied high doses of safrole to liver cancer in animals. The FDA stepped in soon after. It banned safrole as a food additive in 1960. The ban also covered sassafras oil and the raw root bark used to flavor food and drinks.
Here is the part that trips people up. The ban covers the oil and the food use, not the tree itself. You can grow a sassafras tree in your yard, dig the roots, and own the wood with no legal trouble at all. What you cannot do is sell the natural root or its oil as something people drink. The line sits at putting raw safrole into food, not at the plant standing in the ground.
That is where modern sassafras products come in. Companies process the extract to pull the safrole back out, and what is left is safrole free sassafras flavoring. This treated extract is what flavors most root beer on store shelves now. You still taste that warm, woodsy note, but the part that caused the worry is gone. The flavor stayed legal even though the raw oil did not.
So your shopping options break down into a few clear groups.
Safrole-free flavoring
- Where it lives: Bottled root beer extract and store-bought soda use treated sassafras flavor with the safrole removed.
- Why it is fine: The processing meets FDA rules, so it stays on shelves without any legal gray area.
- Best for: Anyone who wants the taste of the old brew without the banned oil.
Raw root and bark
- Where it lives: Sold by some herb shops and foragers, often labeled for craft, dye, or potpourri use only.
- The catch: Selling it for tea or food crosses the FDA line, so labels steer clear of drinking claims.
- Best for: Crafts and aroma, not your morning cup.
Live trees and seeds
- Where it lives: Plant nurseries and seed sellers carry sassafras as a native shade tree.
- Why it is legal: Growing and owning the plant was never banned, only the food use of its oil.
- Best for: Folks who want the tree in the yard for its fall color and history.
My advice is simple if you just miss the flavor. Pick a safrole free sassafras extract or a finished root beer and you get the taste with none of the risk. These products do the hard part for you by stripping the safrole at the factory. You skip the guesswork and still get that root cellar smell in your glass. I keep a bottle of the treated extract in my pantry and use a few drops in homemade soda. It hits the same warm, woodsy note from the old brews, but it stays on the right side of that 1960 line. You get the nostalgia without the banned oil.
What I steered my neighbor away from was brewing the traditional root-bark tea from roots he dug himself. That raw method keeps the full safrole load, which is the exact thing the ban was about. The safety detail behind that choice runs deeper, and the tea FAQ walks through it. For now, the smart move is to buy a treated product and leave the raw root for crafts. If you still want to buy sassafras root in its raw form, treat it as a dye or potpourri item, not a drink.
Read the full article: Sassafras Tree: Leaves, Uses and Safety
