Sal-Free^TM Centre

"Sal-Free^TM" means an ingredient or product does not contain any salicylates.  It is a reserved term.   * A trademark of Guai-Support.

 Warning: Read About Salicylates before purchasing products NOT listed in these data bases. 
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Information and Assistance
Menthol is NOT a salicylate
This information should be read carefully. 
 

Menthol is definitely NOT a salicylate, based on it's molecular structure.

It is an alcohol that is either chemically extracted from wintergreen oil OR synthetically made from coal tar.  The only way it could block is if it were not a pure extraction (this is the same scenario with vitamins and any non-pharmocologically pure product we use) and the information regarding the likelihood of contamination is conflicting.  Some say the majority is obtained from mint and thus residual impurities might be a possibility and others say that the majority is synthesized in the lab (because it's much less expensive) and thus unlikely to be contaminated.  See: Chemfinder for the Chemical structure of Menthol and also: Leffingwell.com for further information.

Excerpt from bartleby.com: "white crystalline substance with a characteristic pungent odor.  It is derived from the oil of the peppermint plant, Mentha piperita (see mint), or prepared synthetically from coal tar.  An alcohol, menthol is freely soluble in ethyl alcohol, ether, and chloroform."
 

Excerpt from King's American Dispensatory: "Chemically, menthol is a secondary alcohol of the formula C6H3(OH)CH3C3H7.H6"
 

Excerpt from  INCHEM (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations World Health Organization repor):  "Menthol is an alcohol..."
 

Pure menthol is not a salicylate, if the extraction/distillation is 100% pure.  There may be other oils carried along with it if it was not done very well.  You probably have more salicylates in a can of tomato paste than in a crystal of menthol, in my opinion.   Tom Slaughter (Dr of Pharmacology)

Another issue which has not been considered by others is that many, many products that contain menthol also contain other very well known salicylates which would block many.

Some non-sensitive Guai'ers actually want to experiment with the odd product containing controversial ingredients, usually (but not necessarily) short term, in order to address a specific health issue, generally broaden their options, or to make their lives a little less restricted.  Our goal is to list the status of ingredients correctly (not allowing contamination to impinge on the chemical compound status), putting the power in the user's hands and enabling informed decision-making.  If we  have specific information related to contamination that will be listed also.  Keep in mind that any OTC product, where it is not specifically stated that it is pharmocologically pure, may be contaminated from the source, which in turn MAY contain salicylates.  Salicylates are made in all plants to fend off soil bacteria and pests (reference "Science" [VOL. 266 e November 18, 1994 issue] - Feingold

Salicylates are chemicals found naturally in some plants, stored in the bark, leaves, roots, skin and seeds. They act as preservatives to delay rotting and they protect the plants against pests.)

If you use anything containing menthol (which does not contain a salicylate which is known to block) and subsequently believe your progress is compromised, perhaps the ingredient label should indicate 'menthol salicylate', or perhaps the menthol is contaminated with other salicylate ingredients, so please do a blocking test and send us the results.

Note: We've had several blocking reports for menthol cigarettes over the years and this could be due to contaminated menthol or some other ingredient in them.

Should any particular product containing menthol ever be proven to block, it will not change its non-salicylate status (it will only indicate contamination).  Nor will it indicate that all products containing menthol will block as different companies purchase it from different sources where different processes will have been employed. 

For further information regarding the contamination issue please click here.

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The information on this site is the property of the Guai-Support ListOwner Tesa Marcon: vashtii@optusnet.com.au  
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