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. 
For information, click on the arrows to open these drop-down boxes. 

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Information and Assistance

Sal-ReSearch Tips

(including Sources for Researching)  

Revised July 12, 2006

Salicylates (pronounced sah-LISS-a-late) block Guaifenesin Treatment for FMS at the kidney level.  They  are chemicals found naturally in some plants.  They are stored in the bark, leaves, roots, skin and seeds and act as preservatives to delay rotting.  They fend off soil bacteria and pests (reference "Science" [VOL. 266 e November 18, 1994 issue]).  Salicylates are not inherently manufactured by all plants but, in order to protect Guai'ers from the possibility of blocking, our listing is created to take into account that potential.

.
ARS list of plants containing Salicylic-acid

Feingold

Contents Directory
Salicylate Assistance for members
Submitting *Sal-Free Products to the Product list
Descriptive Tags Legend
Become a GG Member
General Research Tips
SAL Research Resources
Research Medications
Research Cosmetics
Company Contacts
Salicylate Sensitivity & Intolerance

Salicylate Assistance for Members: Salicylate Assistance 

Submitting *Sal-Free Products to the data base
 

Descriptive Tags Legend
See Descriptive Tags Legend  before searching for products in *Sal-Free Products listing.
 

To Join Guai-Support
Click here to become a member of the International Guai-Support Group 

Some tips on the best way to search this site for Salicylate information

General Research Tips

Two Categories of *Natural* Salicylates Guai'ers Need to Avoid

- ingested from herbal medications which are potent enough to easily block guaifenesin

(click here for other 'possibilities' in blocking via some food/drink)

- topically applied products which deliver salicylates directly into the bloodstream

Food (apart from the 'possible' exceptions listed at the link above) is only an issue where an allergy or sensitivity to salicylates is present (see Salicylate Sensitivity below).

Salicylates are not inherently manufactured by all plants but, in order to protect Guai'ers from the possibility of blocking, our listing is created to take into account their potential to do so.  We err on the side of caution.

-  See Products to check carefully for Salicylates
-  See Sal Molecular Structure page

-  See If the ingredient is a chemical

-  See A number in combination with a chemical word

-  See A number AFTER an ingredient

-  Many chemicals are listed as, or contain, acronyms as part of their name (e.g. Azelastine HCL, Capramide DEA) but all acronyms should be checked to be sure.

-  Just because you can find a chemical structure does not, in and of itself, indicate if the chemical is not a member of the salicylate family. A unique chemical structure does mean that the ingredient in question is only one chemical, and not a composite of several chemicals. There is a specific molecular structure that occurs in all salicylate chemicals. If you want to learn what a sal looks like, take a look at the chemical structure for salicylic acid.  The benzene ring, the "Y" with the double line going out to an "O", and a single line to an "O" on the other side of the "Y", and an "O" on an  adjacent point are the distinguishing characteristics of salicylates. Take a look at some other known chemical sals and identify the sal pattern within the total chemical structure. Good examples are common ingredients in sunscreens homosalate and Octyl salicylate.  Note that if you cannot find a chemical structure, it typically indicates that the ingredient is a combination of chemicals, some of which might be sals. Vegetable, seed, and nut oils are a good example of this.

• By law, companies have a grace period when reformulating products before they have to change their packaging. They must disclose the changes in their inserts, so please read the inserts in packages also. 

•  There is  no government regulation of such products as 5HTP (from Griffonia seeds) & MSM etc in the US.  Unless they state specifically that they are manufactured from pure chemical extractions, one should call the company to find out the process used to make them.  'Pure' and 'Natural' are not actually the same as what we think they are so investigate supplements carefully.

• Be sure to check for salicylate content in 'knock-offs' (copy version of original) products listed on the  Sal-Free^TM lists;

• Medicinal Products don't have to list all their ingredients so be sure to check the Sal-Full^TM list & the Getting Product Sal-Info document for help with what is a medicinal product and what to look out for in such products

• See FDA on soaps

• Members can see our interim reports with the subject line "SAL: New products/changes to the next edition Sal-Free." in the GG Archives

• When starting Guai use the least amount of products and check them well;

• Toothpaste remains one of the main culprits; people just don't believe they can only use the ones on the *Sal-Free lists;

• medicinal product labels don't always list "inactive ingredients" (although most sal fillers are not enough to block.  See more information here.  You need to call the company and check if there are any and what they are, also, sometimes an ingredient in a medicinal or supplement is listed as an "also contains" somewhere else on the packaging  (see An Approach to Getting More Information

• picking & preparing foods does not block - they're not concentrated enough (unless of course you are doing rather a lot of it in which case you might choose to wear gloves or do the blocking test on occasion), some possible exceptions are stripping Rosemary from stems & thorns from Rose bushes, etc. There is a big difference between preparing vegies for dinner and putting plant based products on your skin that will sit there for awhile. First, the plant things in preparations are generally much more concentrated than the vegies you would touch to prepare dinner. Second, the products on your skin will be in contact with your skin for a long time, so that the sals have plenty of time to be absorbed. Third, most of the vegies we prepare for dinner are relatively low in sals....there are warnings about high sal things such as rosemary or other fresh herbs. Even garlic which many people worry about is very low in sals, and if for some reason you were to prepare aloe to eat I would suggest you use gloves. Fourth, when preparing dinner we imagine you are washing your hands frequently.  The in between situation is gardening and the danger there is that you are touching more higher sal plants, for a much longer time and with less hand washing than in preparing dinner. Does that make more sense? We wouldn't want you to sit for an hour with spinach spread all over you, but to give it a squeeze to get the water out and then rinse your hand off isn't a worry.

• if in doubt about gloves rinse them really well with water and hang up to dry;

• Although the preparation of a food can affect its salicylate level (e.g., Raw foods, dried foods and juices contain higher levels than the same food when cooked), we've never had any blocking reports regarding them;

• Flowers and Herbs are higher in sals than Vegies and Fruits;

• eating food does not block, some possible exceptions are some Gums, Candies & Teas, and perhaps some Protein Bars and Powders containing herbals might block, i.e. while normal unconcentrated food items and ingredients are safe because of the digestive process, concentrated herbals contain enough    sals to overwhelm the digestive process and block. Picture eating broccoli, which is fine. There isn't a problem with handling it either. Now picture that same broccoli with all the water and fiber removed stuffed into capsules. That is how concentrated the herbs can be.  Where it gets confusing are things that fall in between those two extremes. In those cases we err on the side of caution to be safe.  In products such as protein powders and bars it is impossible to know if there is enough to block or it would be treated by the body as food, so best to assume that the herbals are there as a supplement and stay away;

• It was once thought that nail polish would not be absorbed and thus not block, however, now we are not so sure. Use a *Sal-Free one to be safe;

• products put on the ends of your hair and eyelashes & products not absorbed by the skin (such as waxes) are ok regardless of sal status (if you are concerned about mascara smudging onto your skin however choose Sal- Free^TM ones,  some are listed in their relevant sections, some of us are more sensitive to salicylates than others, it is strongly recommended you avoid all of them until such time as you are well enough to detect a difference in how you feel when using a product which may include them;

• there is a blocking test  if you are particularly concerned;

• you can use the *Sal-Free lists as a guide in all countries because most products listed will contain the same ingredients but NOT ALWAYS so check the pack carefully or call company (do whatever is most necessary in your country -- country tags apply to those items checked in that country)

• artificial flavors don't block (except possibly wintergreen & mint, which are menthyl salicylate and read about Piperitone & menthol)

• almost all colourings in cosmetics are metals or minerals. The only exceptions are rare, and would be in speciality health-type" cosmetics.  A few of these use some plants, such as beets, for coloring but these are not common, and you'd know if you had one of these cosmetics;

• Nuts held in the hand while eating may be fine as we've had no confirmed blocking reports but it is possible that if your hands are smeared with the oil for a long time or often it could be an issue -- we urge you to wash your hands immediately after.  Fruit seeds, with the exception of grape seed, which is high in sal's, may be OK.

• walking barefoot in the grass doesn't block, so long as it's not freshly cut, and you can swim in the lakes and rivers - no need to be concerned about Sal-Full product residues floating in pools and hot tubs, just don't add anything *Sal-Full to your own bath;

•  wear gloves when gardening or using Lemon Oil, Pine Sol and other Sal-Full^tm cleaning agents.- members have blocked gardening with bare hands & cotton gloves;

• To remove aloe strips from razor blades:
  Karen M: Take a fingernail scissor and put it in the corner of the area where the strip is, right next to the strip.  There's a tiny open area there on mine, just enough to get one blade of scissor in.  Then pry up.  It comes out in one or 2 pieces.  Hold the razor blade on the ends when you work with it.
  
  Wendy H: I buy a brand with loose heads that fit onto a handle (rather than one where the entire razor is disposable).  I use the handle to get the head out of the holder it came in, and then take it off the handle to remove the aloe strips.  Be very careful when you're handling the razor blades - it would be very easy to forget just what it is you're doing, and start handling the razor by the shaving edge, which will cut you.  Keep a firm grip on the ends as you work, so your fingers aren't tempted to stray to another position.  I use something thin, like a knife (take care not to cut yourself!) or nail cleaner (anything that will fit through the holes behind the strip), and push the strip out from the back of the razor blade.  I find it usually pops out quite easily, sometimes in two pieces, but more often whole.  You might need to poke at it from both ends (the brand I buy has a slot at each end at the back) to ease it out of it's fitting.

• one member said she blocked by plucking grapes from stems everyday at lunch.  She said she let them scratch her skin with every grape she plucked but it was later discovered that she'd cleared previously following this same practice but she had changed her Guaifenesin product in the time she had regressed;

• to review your products before starting Guai or to check them for possible blocking:

• first put them all in a box; everything you put on your skin or in your mouth except food.  Often we all forget one or two items that could block us, but this way makes it safer (many miss items at first).  One by one, starting with the ones you need the most (like soap and shampoo), take the items out of the box and check them.  Don't take anything out of the box and use it unless you are sure it isn't going to block you. For blocking concerns, send ingredient lists (can be just the ingredients you aren't sure of or aren't on the sal-free list) to a sal-mentor for review. By only using the basics (whatever you consider the basics to be) until you find a blocker you might also find that you start to feel differently, i.e., worse. Then you know that something still in your box is a blocker;

• If you've checked a list of ingredients for a particular product on the internet before you go to the shop, print it out and take it with you. That way you can compare the list off the internet (that you have checked and know to be okay) with the list on the product, and see if there are any differences. If there are no differences, then you know that product in your hand is okay. If there's a difference, you then need to make a decision whether to walk away, or buy it and take it home to check out the ingredients properly. You can use your mouse to highlight the list on a web page, and then copy it into your word processor or Windows Notepad to print. Click here to see CopyPaste directions;

• rather than searching one list on our site, and then another, use the Site Search facility at to search the whole web site at once. When the search results come up, look for pages like the Sal-Free^TM Ingredients List and the Sal-Full^TM List and open one or more and find where that ingredient appears on the page (use your browser's Find function - Edit > Find from the menu at the top of your browser screen) to make sure that it is an example of what that page is about (as opposed to an example of something that isn't). Click here to see more about this.

• cut out (or print out) and keep package ingredient lists in a small plastic sleeved folder just big enough to keep in your purse or car glove box (small photo album or clip file?);

• Insert Sal lists into a Word document and then transfer to a Palm/Visa via Documents to Go

• ask a salesperson for a pamphlet on the products you are interested in; they often contain all the exact names and ingredients which you can scan while relaxing at home and go back to purchase those which are ok;

• you can return products for a refund or exchange if not opened and if you were given wrong information by sales staff you can also request an exchange on those grounds if they are opened/used;

• you can browse a manufacturer's  range on their web site in the comfort of your own home.  However, don't forget, if you purchase a product based on the information that you find on a site, you still have to check that the formula is the same on the product that you actually purchase.  Web sites are not always up-to-date, so make use of the information available, but beware of the pitfalls!  If you order online always check your package & the insert; don't assume it is OK because the web site ingredients were (Avon is a good example)

• if you block it will most likely be for 24 hours (approximate only)

• 2000 Hour Eyelash Dye (Sal Unknown but is only used approx six weekly -  keep an old mascara brush to apply the dye & apply Vaseline under eyes to prevent dye marking skin (AUS)

• Edible *sunscreens* work from inside TUCSON, Ariz. (CP) -- Loading up on red, yellow and orange fruits and veggies packs your skin with carotenoids, helping to protect from sunburn, wrinkles and skin cancer,  *Carotenoids work like a layer of sunscreen* says skin cancer research Ronald Watson of the University of Arizona in Tucson. *The more you consume, the greater the protection.*

• The plant names listed on the Avon site often refer to fragrances (which we don't need to concern ourselves with) so look at the ingredients to ascertain if the product contains salicylates that we do need to be concerned about.

More Sal Research Resources
(Sources of information available for help in determining an ingredient's sal status):

Also refer to Salicylate pages on this site 
and in particular: What else can you tell me about how to determine if the ingredients in my product are *Sal-Free or not?

Inventory of ingredients used in cosmetic products

alphabetic by INCI name

Derma Doctor - Cosmetic Ingredients

ARS list of plants containing Salicylic-acid

Salicylate Sensitivity contains a list of items to watch out for.

Feingold Association for hyperactivity or chemical sensitivities. For extra-sensitive people. The Guai Protocol does NOT require eliminating salicylates from your diet.

Animal Liberation: A comprehensive list of ingredients derived from animals
Animal Rights: A comprehensive list of ingredients derived from animals

Salicylates In Foods
Food Salicylate Content
Swain, Dutton and Truswell : A table of salicylate content in foods
Radiance Clinic

Foods Can Make You Ill (sals)

Listings of Botanical/Essential Oils:
List by English Common Names and Latin Genus/Species
Essential Oils and Culinary Herbs

Household Products Data base

Chinese/Western herbals
Chinese Herbal Remedies
Western Herbs
Medherb.com
Alchemy International Web site

Cosmetic/Hair Care/Perfume Products And Ingredients
US FDA Cosmetics
Campo Research - Cosmeceuticals
INCI Inventory of Cosmetic Ingredients with the function: emollients

Phytochemical/Herbal Databases
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
Center for New Crops & Plant Products, at Purdue University.
Handbook of Energy Crops
Raintree Tropical Data Base
Legendary Ethnobotanical Resource
Phytochemical Index

Plant Data bases
Garden Web Glossary is a searchable botanical database that might help us determine if something is from a plant.

Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Index
Botanical.com - a modern herbal index
Botanicals: List by English Common Names & Latin Genus/Species

IBR/NE Compound List

Chemical Formulas
NIST Standard Reference Database Number 69 - March, 2003 Release
ChemIDplus System at the National Library of Medicine

Glossary Of Plant Terms
Garden Web Glossary

http://www.hedweb.com/campaig/ingred.htm

Tutorials
http//www.friedli.com/herbs/phytochem/phyto_tutorial.html
http//www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/

Medications

 a.  Check Sal-Free Coping Strategies
       http://www.geocities.com/fms_guaifenesin/index.html
b.  USA Internet Drug Index -  http://www.planetrx -   
      http://www.drugstore.com - Medicine.net

Search extensive database of Consumer Medicine Information from Australian  pharmaceutical companies.

NZ prescriptions and restricted medicines only.

c.  On-line Med Dictionary provides many useful
     definitions not found elsewhere.  Also see MedicineNet.com
d.  Ask your pharmacist
e.  Call the company
f.   Check PDR in USA; CPS in Canada; MIMS in Aus, etc
g.  Brand and Trade Names for Aspirin

Anytime you need to know what the effects of any drugs are check out these websites and they will help you: http//www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html
http//www.focusonmedications.com/Script/Main/hp.asp
http//www.rxlist.com/
www.drugstore.com
 
Please consult with your Health Care Professional before making any changes.

Nutrient Glossery; The Nutrition Farm describes many of the nutrients in supplements: http://www.nutritionfarm.com/glossary/nutrientgloss.htm

Cosmetics

Any dictionary can be used to look up if an ingredient is a plant, including online:  Merriam-Webster Online  or  One Look

Good general Search Sites:
Google:     http://www.google.com/
DirectHit:  http://www.directhit.com/
Mamma:  http://www.mamma.com/

ChemFinder

Cornell University lists all the phytochemicals in a particular plant/tree: http://ars-genome.cornell.edu/

A comprehensive list of ingredients derived from animals:
http://veggie.org/veggie/animal.ingredients.shtml#s1
Sal-Full Exceptions: Honey, Hydrogenated Honey (topical) & Royal Jelly.

Cosmeticmall , a Web site that offers a cosmetic ingredients dictionary. Not as complete as Ruth Winter's book (see above)

A Consumers Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, but some help: http://www.cosmeticmall.com/Content/Ingredients.htm

Herbal Index

Canadian Cosmetic Regulations

Company Contacts

Beauty Express Group is a logistics company which specializes in supporting New Zealand retailers and making it as simple as possible for them to sell their products by mail-order using the power of the Internet

Product Finder Resource, names and phone  numbers of cosmetic companies:  Cosmetic Connection

Toll free ph #s or email addys for companies: http://www.northeastcoop.com/manufact.htm

Complete listing of cosmetics companies websites worldwide:
http//databases.cosmeticsbusiness.com/web/index.htm

Paula Begoun's newsletter and website

Maybelline: 
Email:       maybelline@interactive8.com
Web site: http://www.maybelline.com/

Lancome:
Email:       info@lancome.com
Web site: http://www.lancome.com

Paula Begoun. "Don't Go to the Cosmetic Counter Without Me."    Paperback. A general overview of cosmetic ingredients in the beginning of the book, as well as a great deal of interesting material about cosmetics in general. The appendix provides 800 numbers for all the cosmetic companies.

Paula Begoun. The Beauty Bible  Common sense approaches to make-up and skin care.

Paula Begoun Products: 1-800-831-4088.   Not all Paula Begoun products are *Sal-Free.

The appendix in the back of Paula Begoun's book, Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me provides 800 numbers for all the cosmetic companies.

Salicylate Sensitivity contains a list of items to watch out for.

Feingold Association for hyperactivity or chemical sensitivities. For extra-sensitive people. The Guai Protocol does NOT require eliminating salicylates from your diet.

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Guaifenesin Treatment
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Variable Higher Doses (VHD)
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