eu · contaminant
Coumarin (cassia vs cinnamon)
Why the cassia/cinnamon distinction is a compliance fact, not pedantry — cassia carries far more coumarin.
What is Coumarin (cassia vs cinnamon)?
Why the cassia/cinnamon distinction is a compliance fact, not pedantry — cassia carries far more coumarin.
The read
True cinnamon (C. zeylanicum) is very low in coumarin; cassia (C. cassia) carries substantially more, and coumarin has tolerable-intake limits. Selling cassia as "cinnamon" is both mislabelling and a potential intake-limit issue in the EU. India schedules the two as separate spices — get the species right on the label.
Applies to
What this page does not tell you
- Numeric coumarin ceilings by food category
- Coumarin limits are set per finished-food category, not per raw spice; we flag the distinction rather than mis-state a raw-spice ceiling.
Sources
- Reg. (EU) 2023/915 — maximum levels for certain contaminants· Tier 1, retrieved 2026-07-16