Thujone

Until now, absinthe-suisse has been one of the few absinthe sites that didn't have the word "thujone" somewhere on the site. Yet one of the commonest questions asked by those who are relatively new to absinthe is:

"How much thujone do your absinthes have?"

Our brief answer is, "Why does it matter??"

And our longer answer, which is sourced from Wikipedia, is as follows:

"Through ... tests, it has become evident absinthe contains very little thujone.

Despite these studies, many companies still play up the myth that absinthe contains a large amount of thujone and that it will produce some sort of hallucinatory effect on the drinker. Although it contains thujone, anyone binging on absinthe would die of alcohol poisoning long before the thujone starting having any major, i.e. life-threatening, effects.

History

Thujone was an unknown chemical until absinthe hit the scene in the mid 1800s. Dr. Valentin Magnan, who studied alcoholism, tested pure wormwood oil on animals and discovered it caused an epileptic reaction different from plain alcohol. Based on this, it was assumed that absinthe, which contains a small amount of wormwood oil, was more dangerous than ordinary alcohol. Eventually thujone was isolated as the cause of these reactions. Magnan went on to study 250 abusers of alcohol noting that those who drank absinthe had epileptic attacks and hallucinations. In light of modern evidence, these conclusions are questionable and probably based on a poor understanding of other chemicals and diseases and were clouded by Magnan's belief that alcohol and absinthe were "degenerating" the French race.

After absinthe was banned, research dropped off until the 1970s when Nature magazine published an article comparing the molecular shape of thujone to THC, and hypothesized it would act the same way on the brain, sparking the myth that thujone is a cannabinoid.

More recently, following the European Council Directive No. 88/388 allowing certain levels of thujone in foodstuffs in the EU, the studies described above were conducted and found only minute levels of thujone in absinthe.

Regulations

European Union

Maximum thujone levels in the EU are:

• 5 mg/kg in alcoholic beverages with 25% or less abv.
• 10 mg/kg in alcoholic beverages with more than 25% ABV.
• 35 mg/kg in alcohol labeled as bitters."