08/07/2025
Take a walk in the woods! 🌳
History lesson incoming! Sassafras, a tree native to Ohio and the eastern half of the United States, is easily recognized for its three different leaf shapes, all grown on the same tree. But are you aware of its rich cultural history?
Sassafras was originally consumed by Native American tribes for both medicinal and food preparation uses. This usage was then adopted by European settlers arriving in North America, with sassafras being one of the first American exports to Europe.
Then, in the nineteenth century, a product we are still very familiar with today arose from the usage of sassafras—root beer. Much of root beer’s iconic flavor came from sassafras roots and relied on sassafras for its production until the 1960s. This is when safrole, a natural compound in sassafras, was identified as a potential carcinogen, leading to its ban in commercial food and beverages by the FDA. Since then, major root beer producers have replaced it with other ingredients.
Fun fact—if you tear a sassafras leaf and smell it, you will be greeted with a citrus-like smell reminiscent of root beer. Go try it out!
