"Where does the drink dandelion and burdock come
from?
The flavour of dandelion and burdock drinks nowadays is artificial
sassafras – artificial because real sassafras was found
to be toxic and banned some years ago. This same flavour dominates
a number of other soft drinks, such as sarsaparilla and root
beer, which are really just the same thing by a different
name. Dandelion and burdock, like sarsaparilla, have no flavour
to speak of. They used to be included in the forerunners of
modern soft drinks not for their flavour but for their function,
which is cleansing or detoxifying. Dandelion root is a cholalogue
which markedly increases bile flow, and burdock root is both
cleansing and stimulating to the appetite. There is now an
effective “Detox Cordial” on the market, which lists
both dandelion and burdock as principal ingredients."
(The Guardian –
Notes and Queries)
Benefits
Herbal drinks have always been associated
with health benefits, and in earlier times these were the
main reason for consuming these drinks. Thorncroft drinks
are made entirely from food ingredients not medicinal herbs
but many of these ingredients have long been held by herbalists
to have specific effects, and many have also been subject
of scientific research, which has also uncovered some previously
unknown effects. Because they are foods the effects are not
toxic and this makes them quite different from modern pharmaceutical
drugs which are toxic by nature (there is no drug without
a side-effect, and if it doesn’t have a side-effect
it’s not a drug). Thorncroft drinks are not in any
sense medicines and we do not make medicinal claims for them.
