Science Past from the issue of January 30, 1960

SAFE SEASONINGS NAMED — Some 150 seasonings and flavorings — ranging from the familiar cinnamon to exotic “ylang-ylang” — have been put on the safe list, the Food and Drug Administration has announced. Manufacturers who use these flavors in their food products need not furnish further proof of their safety. The list includes cloves, nutmeg, thyme, vanilla … and balsam of Peru.… Seven flavoring substances are on the “wait and see” list, however. Safe usage for these is not “sufficiently well established among qualified experts to permit a formal determination by FDA that they are generally recognized as safe.” They include quinine, red and yellow cinchona barks, two forms of orris root … wintergreen and methyl salicylate.