Not Guilty
Today, the FDA considers chamomile a safe herb, but warnings about chamo-mile can still still be found in many modern herb books. The controversy stems from a Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology article in which the author said that drinking chamomile tea might produce potentially fatal anaphylactic shock in people who are allergic to the distantly related ragweed. Concerned researchers then reviewed data on chamomile assembled from studies conducted between 1887 and 1982. They found only 50 allergic reactions reported in any chamomile species, and no deaths. Only 5 reactions were from the German chamomile that is commonly used as tea. The researchers concluded that the likelihood of an acute allergy to chamomile is really quite low.In 1977 Saint-John's-wort was placed on an FDA list of unsafe herbs because animals that ingest it experience a negative reaction to sunlight. In Russia, this common weed is called zveroboi, or "beast killer." However, no cases of human poisoning exist in the scientific literature, and many herbalists use Saint-John's-wort extensively—and without complaint from their clients. I have heard a few stories of people—mostly individuals who are HIV-positive—developing a sun sensitivity after taking very large amounts. It is possible that people whose immune systems are compromised are more susceptible to the herb's phototoxic side effects.
In 1989 a controversy developed over psyllium. Fifty-eight people re-ported allergic reactions from a cereal containing psyllium. It turned out that a few individuals, mostly nurses who had been exposed to psyllium dust in the hospital, had developed a sensitivity to psyllium.