Here's a story Inedible Cocktail Garnishes Need To Be Kicked Off The Menu

In preparation for a talk at the 2019 Bar Convent Berlin where Camper English spoke on CocktailSafe topics, several pages of this website were updated with information on legal limits for several ingredients. 

These include: 

• Coumarin/Tonka Beans/Bison Grass
• Bitter Almonds
• Sassafras
• Calamus
• Thujone and Wormwood
• Licorice
• Carbon Black and Activated Charcoal 

Due to a couple of seminars in Canada, we have researched some safety laws in the nation. As each province may have its own regulations, this turned out to be a challenge and we were only successful in some instances. On this page we list a few of the updates made to CocktailSafe pages. 

CocktailSafe founder Camper English will be speaking at the Toronto Cocktail Conference this August. 

Updates and Canada Information

Thujone limits in absinthe and other beverages. 

Health Canada released a warning about gentian violet, but this is not related to the plant gentian. 

Sulfites in Canada (according to Wikipedia)

Unlike in the United States, in Canada a type of black food coloring ("carbon black") is permitted. 

It appears that for the same reason tobacco infusions aren't legal in the US (that all tobacco products must be sold with their original packaging) they would not be legal in Canada. 

Health Canada provided information about quinine limits. 

In Canada, "Oil, extract or root of calamus from Acorus calamus L." is forbidden in "all foods" as it is on the List of Contaminants and other Adulterating Substances in Foods.

It appears laws about bitter almonds may soon change in Canada. 

Many resources for Canadian laws have been added to the Resources Page.

CocktailSafe has been mentioned in more media, according to my Google news alerts. 

The San Francisco Chronicle mentioned the website in a round-up of what Wine Editor Esther Mobley is reading. 

Cocktails & Bars also includes mention of CocktailSafe in their news round-up. 

And the new April print issue of Wine & Spirits magazine misprinted the website domain as CocktailSafety.org, so as of today both that domain and CocktailSafety.com point to this website. I'm not mad about it - I probably should have made that the main domain name in the first place!

Your CocktailSafe creator Camper English was recently a guest on The Mixology Talk Podcast, hosted by Chris from A Bar Above. 

Here is the link to the podcast, please give it a listen!

The news is spreading about CocktailSafe! Here are some recent appearances in the media in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia: 

TODAY.com: "The truth about copper Moscow mule mugs and other dangerous cocktail combos"

LifeHacker.com "Mix Cocktails Safely With This New Website"

BarLifeUK.com "Camper English Launches Cocktail Ingredient Safety Website"

WoodworkingNetwork.com "Bartenders warned against mixing some woods with liquor"

TheSpiritsBusiness.com "New resource highlights dangerous cocktail ingredients"

AustralianBartender.com.au "This website will help you to not kill your customers"

GlobalNews.ca "Your Moscow mule might look nice, but its copper mug can seriously harm you"

If you're on this site, you've probably seen the story about CocktailSafe in the New York Times already, but I'll link to it here for posterity.