Heavy metals in Cinnamon

Cinnamon overview

Lead is the metal that decides most cinnamon questions. In 808 WHO GEMS/Food lead results for cinnamon bark from 2003 to 2024, the median was about 350 µg/kg and 103 results (13%) were above 2,000 µg/kg, the EU maximum for bark spices.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2European Commission · 2023Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006Official Journal of the European UnionRead source →} Codex set a 2,500 µg/kg lead limit for dried bark spices in 2025, and China allows 3,000 µg/kg for cassia bark.^{7Codex Alimentarius Commission · 1995General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CXS 193-1995)Codex Alimentarius (Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme)Read source →8National Health Commission, State Administration for Market Regulation · 2025GB 2762-2025: National Food Safety Standard — Maximum Levels of Contaminants in FoodsNational Food Safety Standard of the People’s Republic of ChinaRead source →}

Retail surveys show the same wide spread. Ten powdered products bought in Queensland ranged from 150 to 7,000 µg/kg lead, 37 bulk samples from Casablanca averaged 2,050 µg/kg, and five cassia samples from Iraq averaged 4,159 µg/kg, while single samples from Indonesia and Serbia held 23 and 310 µg/kg.^{4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →5Matloob MH · 2016Using Stripping Voltammetry to Determine Heavy Metals in Cooking Spices Used in IraqPolish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →9Sabri S, Sabri C, Salam MR, El Mellouli F, Lafram A, Khallouki H, Hassane YA, Kabine M · 2025Essential and Toxic Element Profiles in Selected Spices from Greater Casablanca, MoroccoWorld’s Veterinary Journal 15(4): 863-881Read source →10Cicero N, Gervasi T, Durazzo A, Lucarini M, Macrì A, Nava V, Giarratana F, Tardugno R, Vadalà R, Santini A · 2022Mineral and Microbiological Analysis of Spices and Aromatic HerbsFoodsRead source →11Savić S, Petrović S, Petronijević M, Cvetanović A, Petronijević Ž · 2019Determination of the mineral content of spices by ICP-OESAdvanced TechnologiesRead source →} Cadmium is usually a few hundred µg/kg, and chromium, nickel and aluminium are high enough in some products to matter alongside lead.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →9Sabri S, Sabri C, Salam MR, El Mellouli F, Lafram A, Khallouki H, Hassane YA, Kabine M · 2025Essential and Toxic Element Profiles in Selected Spices from Greater Casablanca, MoroccoWorld’s Veterinary Journal 15(4): 863-881Read source →}

A separate problem is deliberate adulteration. In 2023 cinnamon ground in Ecuador and contaminated with lead chromate reached the United States in apple cinnamon pouches that held 1,900–5,800 µg/kg lead as sold, and 566 cases of elevated blood lead were reported in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.^{3Troeschel AN, Buser MC, Winquist A, Ruckart P, Yeh M, Kuai D, Chang A, Pennington AF, Rumph JT, Smith MR, Valenzuela Lara M, Cataldo N, Lewis K, Arnold K, Harris S, Nicholas DC, Hughes M, Wortmann T, Norman E, Napier MD, Dillard J, Daniel J · 2025Investigation of Lead and Chromium Exposure After Consumption of Contaminated Cinnamon-Containing Applesauce — United States, November 2023–April 2024Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)Read source →12Napier MD, et al. · 2024Childhood Lead Exposure Linked to Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree Pouches — North Carolina, June 2023–January 2024MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportRead source →} Those results are kept apart from the ordinary occurrence data on this page. For a buyer, the supported priority is a lot-specific result for lead and chromium together, with species and form recorded; a species label or an origin alone does not settle it.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →3Troeschel AN, Buser MC, Winquist A, Ruckart P, Yeh M, Kuai D, Chang A, Pennington AF, Rumph JT, Smith MR, Valenzuela Lara M, Cataldo N, Lewis K, Arnold K, Harris S, Nicholas DC, Hughes M, Wortmann T, Norman E, Napier MD, Dillard J, Daniel J · 2025Investigation of Lead and Chromium Exposure After Consumption of Contaminated Cinnamon-Containing Applesauce — United States, November 2023–April 2024Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)Read source →6LHAAC · 2025Coordinated Sampling Project 41: Microbial and Heavy Metal Detections in Herbs and SpicesLocal Health Authorities Analytical Committee, Edith Cowan UniversityRead source →}

What counts as cinnamon

This page covers dried cinnamon bark, sold ground or as sticks and pieces, from any Cinnamomum species.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →} Cassia (C. cassia and related species, including Saigon and Indonesian cinnamon) and Ceylon cinnamon (C. verum, also called C. zeylanicum or true cinnamon) are labelled separately wherever a source names the species, and cinnamon of unstated species stays its own group.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →5Matloob MH · 2016Using Stripping Voltammetry to Determine Heavy Metals in Cooking Spices Used in IraqPolish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →13Bua DG, Annuario G, Albergamo A, Cicero N, Dugo G · 2016Heavy metals in aromatic spices by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometryFood Additives & Contaminants: Part BRead source →}

Species labels are rarely verified. An Australian survey labelled all ten products C. verum although two came from China and two from Vietnam, where cassia is the usual crop, and no study in the ledger authenticated the species analytically.^{4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →} Cinnamon flowers, cinnamon sugar, blended teas, cinnamon-flavoured cereals and bakery, infant foods that list cinnamon, and purging cassia (Cassia fistula, a different plant) are outside this scope.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →14U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy · 2021Baby Foods Are Tainted with Dangerous Levels of Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, and MercuryStaff ReportRead source →}

Place names need the same care. A WHO GEMS/Food region is the region that reported the result, not where the bark grew, and most surveys report where the product was bought.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →9Sabri S, Sabri C, Salam MR, El Mellouli F, Lafram A, Khallouki H, Hassane YA, Kabine M · 2025Essential and Toxic Element Profiles in Selected Spices from Greater Casablanca, MoroccoWorld’s Veterinary Journal 15(4): 863-881Read source →13Bua DG, Annuario G, Albergamo A, Cicero N, Dugo G · 2016Heavy metals in aromatic spices by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometryFood Additives & Contaminants: Part BRead source →} Finished applesauce from the 2023 outbreak is a different material: its lead was measured in the puree, not in the cinnamon.^{12Napier MD, et al. · 2024Childhood Lead Exposure Linked to Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree Pouches — North Carolina, June 2023–January 2024MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportRead source →}

Heavy metal contamination profile of cinnamon

The table holds every cinnamon result extracted from 17 monitoring, survey, investigation and regulatory-science sources: one row for each statistic a source reports for a subgroup and metal, so a mean, a range and a single-sample value appear as separate rows.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →5Matloob MH · 2016Using Stripping Voltammetry to Determine Heavy Metals in Cooking Spices Used in IraqPolish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →9Sabri S, Sabri C, Salam MR, El Mellouli F, Lafram A, Khallouki H, Hassane YA, Kabine M · 2025Essential and Toxic Element Profiles in Selected Spices from Greater Casablanca, MoroccoWorld’s Veterinary Journal 15(4): 863-881Read source →13Bua DG, Annuario G, Albergamo A, Cicero N, Dugo G · 2016Heavy metals in aromatic spices by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometryFood Additives & Contaminants: Part BRead source →} Ratings place a mean, median or single result against a pooled HMI cinnamon reference built from WHO GEMS/Food subgroup medians and the per-sample results printed by studies of products bought in Australia, Italy, Lebanon, Serbia, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh; non-detects remain intervals and are never read as zero.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →4Tinggi U, Farrell M, Porter J, Mitchell S, Jurd S · 2025Heavy metal analysis in commercial spices and herbs by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and estimated dietary exposureJournal of Environmental Exposure AssessmentRead source →10Cicero N, Gervasi T, Durazzo A, Lucarini M, Macrì A, Nava V, Giarratana F, Tardugno R, Vadalà R, Santini A · 2022Mineral and Microbiological Analysis of Spices and Aromatic HerbsFoodsRead source →13Bua DG, Annuario G, Albergamo A, Cicero N, Dugo G · 2016Heavy metals in aromatic spices by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometryFood Additives & Contaminants: Part BRead source →15Moussa L, Hassan HF, Savvaidis IN, Karam L · 2024Impact of source, packaging and presence of food safety management system on heavy metals levels in spices and herbsPLoS ONERead source →11Savić S, Petrović S, Petronijević M, Cvetanović A, Petronijević Ž · 2019Determination of the mineral content of spices by ICP-OESAdvanced TechnologiesRead source →16Ammar HR, Saleh SM, Sivasankaran S, Albadri AEAE, Al-Mufadi FA · 2023Investigation of Element Migration from Aluminum Cooking Pots Using ICP-MSApplied Sciences (MDPI)Read source →17Islam MS, Chowdhury AI, Shill LC, Reza S, Alam MR · 2023Heavy Metals Induced Health Risk Assessment Through Consumption of Selected Commercially Available Spices in Noakhali District of BangladeshmedRxiv (preprint)Read source →} Rows that failed a check against their own paper stay visible with the reason and are not compared, and rows from the outbreak measure applesauce, not cinnamon.^{5Matloob MH · 2016Using Stripping Voltammetry to Determine Heavy Metals in Cooking Spices Used in IraqPolish Journal of Environmental StudiesRead source →13Bua DG, Annuario G, Albergamo A, Cicero N, Dugo G · 2016Heavy metals in aromatic spices by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometryFood Additives & Contaminants: Part BRead source →12Napier MD, et al. · 2024Childhood Lead Exposure Linked to Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree Pouches — North Carolina, June 2023–January 2024MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportRead source →17Islam MS, Chowdhury AI, Shill LC, Reza S, Alam MR · 2023Heavy Metals Induced Health Risk Assessment Through Consumption of Selected Commercially Available Spices in Noakhali District of BangladeshmedRxiv (preprint)Read source →}