In 1919, Roy Allen opened his root-beer stand in Lodi, California, which led to the development of A&W Root Beer. One of Allen's innovations was that he served his homemade root beer in cold, frosty mugs. IBC Root Beer is another brand of commercially-produced root beer that emerged during this period and is still well-known today. [8] Not all traditional or commercial root beers were sassafras-based. One of Hires's early competitors was Barq's, which began selling its sarsaparilla-based root beer in 1898 and was labeled simply as "Barq's". [10] The Barq's that is dispensed from Coca-Cola Freestyle machines is caffeine-free. [12] [13] This is because the system uses the same concentrated, microdosed ingredient for both Barq's and Diet Barq's; the only difference between the two is the sweetener that is added. It is also common for Barq's that is sold in the state of Utah to be caffeine-free because many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints avoid caffeinated beverages. [14] Barq's products [ edit ] Barq's Nutritional value per 12 fl oz (355ml) Most major brands other than Barq's are caffeine-free (Barq's contains about 1.8 mg of caffeine per fluid ounce). [19] Since safrole, a key component of sassafras, was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960 due to its carcinogenicity, most commercial root beers have been flavored using artificial sassafras flavoring, [1] [2] but a few (e.g. Hansen's) use a safrole-free sassafras extract. [3]

One traditional recipe for making root beer involves cooking a syrup from molasses and water, letting the syrup cool for three hours, and combining it with the root ingredients (including sassafras root, sassafras bark, and wintergreen). Yeast was added, and the beverage was left to ferment for 12 hours, after which it was strained and rebottled for secondary fermentation. This recipe usually resulted in a beverage of 2% alcohol or less, although the recipe could be modified to produce a more alcoholic beverage. [13] Foam Smith, Andrew (August 30, 2006). Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food. Greenwood. pp.231–232. ISBN 978-0313335273.Barq met a young boy on the Mississippi coast, Jesse Robinson, and employed him. Robinson was mentored by Barq and later moved to New Orleans. In 1934 Barq and Robinson signed a contractual agreement on Barq's product rights allowing Robinson to make his own concentrate, uncommon in beverage bottling licenses. The two men remained close their entire lives, working on flavors and production challenges. A distinctive difference between the Biloxi-based root beer and the Louisiana's was that the Louisiana bottle was printed in red (versus Biloxi's blue). This was to distinguish ownership of bottles as blue labeled ones were returned to Mississippi and vice versa. There were also regional taste differences between the various Barq's bottlers. While there may have been minor formula differences, water was most responsible. [ citation needed]

Ehler, James (2022). "Root beer: why does it foam so much?". FoodReference.com . Retrieved 21 April 2022. Safrole, the aromatic oil found in sassafras roots and bark that gave traditional root beer its distinctive flavor, was banned in commercially mass-produced foods and drugs by the FDA in 1960. [1] Laboratory animals that were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained large doses of safrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer. [1] While sassafras is no longer used in commercially produced root beer and is sometimes replaced with artificial flavors, natural extracts with the safrole distilled and removed are available. [11] [12] Traditional method

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Root beer was originally made with sassafras root and bark which, due to its mucilaginous properties, formed a natural, long lasting foam, a characteristic feature of the beverage. Root beer was originally carbonated by fermentation. As demand and technology changed, carbonated water was used. Some manufacturers used small amounts of starch (e.g. from cassava) with natural surfactants to reproduce the familiar foaming character of sassafras-based root beer. Some brands of root beer have distinctive foaming behaviors, which has been used as part of their marketing identity. [14] Ingredients Utah in a niche market for non-caffeinated Barq's Root Beer". The Daily Universe. April 2020 . Retrieved 2020-07-24.

a b Sokolov, Raymond (April 5, 1993). Why We Eat What We Eat: How Columbus Changed the Way the World Eats. Touchstone. p.174. ISBN 978-0671797911. Barq's® Spiced Cherry | Coca-Cola Canada". Coke Canada. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03 . Retrieved 2021-03-26. Funderburg, Anne Cooper (2002). Sundae Best: A History of Soda Fountains. Popular Press. pp.93–95. ISBN 978-0879728540– via Google Books. a b Smith, Andrew (November 30, 2012). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. pp.1, 188. ISBN 978-0199734962.For many decades, Barq's was not marketed as a "root beer". This was in part a desire to avoid legal conflict with the Hires Root Beer company, which was attempting to claim a trademark on the term "root beer". It was also due to some differences from other root beers at the time. The formulation was sarsaparilla-based, contained less sugar, had a higher carbonation, and less of a foamy head than other brands. [6] Barq's ( / ˈ b ɑːr k s/) is an American brand of root beer created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. [2] It was known as "Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer" until 2012. [3] Some of its formulations contain caffeine. [4] History [ edit ] Historical Marker at Edward Barq's Pop Factory, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA a b c Dietz, B; Bolton, Jl (April 2007). "Botanical dietary supplements gone bad". Chemical Research in Toxicology. 20 (4): 586–90. doi: 10.1021/tx7000527. ISSN 0893-228X. PMC 2504026. PMID 17362034. Fankhauser, David B. "MAKING ROOT BEER AT HOME". biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/. Archived from the original on 2007-10-19.