In article ,
Adam Funk wrote:

ISTR you can't get Zubrowka in the USA because the FDA bans coumarin,
but according to Wikipedia sweet woodruff is allowed in alcoholic
beverages (but not in food).

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._and_cosmetics

Yes: I believe they've been working on a version acceptable to the US
authorities, but I don't know how successfully. I'd have thought the
alcohol posed a vastly greater health risk than the grass, but the FDA
are probably right to be conservative.

They most probably aren't! The toxicity is such that there is no
significant danger from any realistic intake, according to that
reference. If you avoid all such compounds, you would have to give
up almost all spices and herbs, and more.

Nutmeg, for example.

And then there's the background behind the ban on absinthe in the
early C.20.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped...i/Jean_Lanfray

Yes. I haven't checked up properly, but my impression is that
the coumarin in woodruff is much less dangerous than those - say,
comparable to the toxins in chillis, thyme, ordinary pepper or
non-cassia cinnamon.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.