When absinthe was first created, the amount of thujone in the drink was rather high. The high content of thujone may have been the reason for the banning of the drink almost a century ago. Absinthe was found to have many problems with how it makes people act and it could even lead to hallucinations. However, now absinthe contains a lot less thujone and it seems that the amount is safe enough to consume.
Limits
The European Union had set a warning limit of thujone contents (in distilled absinthe) to 10mg/1 or lower. Germany had set the limit of thujone content to 30mg/1 or lower. The United States followed the limit made by the European Union and also allows 10mg/1 or lower.
Danger of Thujone
It was thought that early in the 20th century, absinthe with a lot of thujone in it would cause people to get violently sick. Some people would burst into a violent rage, hallucinate, become fatigue, have various medical conditions, and many more symptoms would show. However, this may not be to place on high thujone content. This could be because of the poor standards in the facilities which the absinthe was manufactured. Things back in the early 20th century were obviously not as good as they are today.
The chance of a bottle of absinthe being contaminated by fault a hundred years ago is obviously a lot higher than it is now. Things have changed and high thujone level warnings may not really be to blame for why it was dangerous to consume absinthe before. While it is not guaranteed that it is not a danger to consume high amounts of thujone, sticking to (or under) the provided limits for your country should keep anyone from worrying at all. |
