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Sassafras root is still used to flavor traditional root beer, although since sassafras was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because of the carcinogenicity of its constituent safrole, most commercial recipes do not contain sassafras. Some commercial root beers do use a safrole-free sassafras extract.
Homemade root beer is also simple to make and has all the flavor of conventional root beer without the harmful ingredients. Herbs for Homemade Root Beer. The herbs used in homemade root beer, mainly sassafras and sarsaparilla (as well as wintergreen) have some controversy surrounding them. These herbs contain safrole, which was once found to cause cancer in mice.