An analysis of cinnamon on the European market has discovered fraud and potential safety issues.
Scientists said the problem requires attention given the projected increase of the global cinnamon market.
The analysis involved 104 cinnamon samples purchased at retailers in 10 EU countries, and in the UK, Serbia, and Sri Lanka. Stick and ground samples were mainly from Sri Lanka but also from Madagascar, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently enacted import certifications and alerts on cinnamon from certain areas of Indonesia because samples have shown radioactive contamination.
Scientists from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge agency, used four internally developed screening methods.
In 2023, cinnamon was the fifth most imported spice in the EU. There are two main types: Ceylon cinnamon, native to Sri Lanka, and Cassia, native to Myanmar, a cheaper and lower quality alternative with a stronger taste, which naturally contains coumarin, a compound which is potentially toxic for the liver.
Up to 9 percent of the samples labeled as Ceylon cinnamon were totally or partially substituted by Cassia cinnamon. Ceylon is about twice as expensive as cassia.
Lead safety findings
More than 66 percent of the samples failed to meet international quality standards, were non-compliant with EU food safety legislation, were suspected of fraud, or potentially exceeded legal coumarin limits.
Results can help the scientific community and policymakers to set threshold values for the different cinnamon components, and to define when to consider a sample as suspicious. The JRC said this will allow for more detailed surveillance and help authorities to act.
The study showed that 10 samples did not comply with the maximum limit of 2 mg lead per kilogram of cinnamon in European food safety legislation and 31 samples were potentially hazardous for children due to a high coumarin content.
Nineteen samples had a high chromium level, ranging from 2 to 20 mg kg. However, European legislation on contaminants does not have maximum limits for this compound.
Results were published in the journal npj Science of Food. Researchers said the processing and supply chain of spices is complex, long, and globalized, and fraud can take place in any stage.
Fraud, such as substitution of bark by other parts of the cinnamon tree like roots, leaves, and flowers, were suspected in several samples. Also, about 21 percent of samples failed to meet international standards because of a high total ash content.
Some findings could be because of cross-contamination issues, poor processing practices, or the result of fraudulent substitution.
Thirteen samples had a high content of sulfur and would be potentially non-compliant with maximum limits for sulfur dioxide-sulfites.
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