Despite a U.S. Food and Drug Administration finding in 2020 that extracts from the Polynesian plant awa, or kawa kawa, were not safe to consume because they might harm the liver, Hawaii’s Department of Health (DOH) has announced that awa is not a danger if prepared as a beverage in the traditional way, by steeping the root in water.

Turns out it’s large-scale, factory production using acetone, ethanol or other organic solvents to extract kavalactones — the calming, anti-inflammatory ingredient in awa — that creates product with two to 10 times the concentration of kavalactones than in water-steeped awa. This can cause a “rare, but severe liver injury.” Adults who drink awa ceremonially, and respectfully, are at no risk, DOH says.