Ok heres the basic explanation on why the root is rossed. Most of the oil is in the outer bark and rossing the root will remove most of the oil. As far as I know there is only 1 FDA approved company still making the real sassafras root beer.And they do buy rossed root from diggers.Its were I sell mine when I feel like rossing root...lol
Safrole is the principle component of oil of sassafras (up to 90%). It was formerly used
as the main flavor ingredient in root beer. It is also present in the oils of basil, nutmeg, and mace (Nijssen et al., 1996). The HERP value for average consumption of naturally-occurring safrole in spices is 0.03%. Safrole and safrole-containing sassafras oils were banned from use as food additives in the U.S. and Canada (Canada Gazette, 1995; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1960). Before the 1964 ban in the U.S., a person consuming a glass of sassafras root beer per day for life, would have had a HERP value of 0.2% (Ames et al., 1987). Sassafras root can still be purchased in health food stores and can therefore be used to make tea; the recipe is on the World Wide Web.