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There is More to Cinnamon than Meets the Eye

Cassia vs. Ceylon Cinnamon

While cassia cinnamon is originated in Southern China, Ceylon cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka. They are inner barks of different trees and vary in color, taste, and other properties. Cassia cinnamon tastes stronger and hotter than Ceylon counterpart and has a distinct reddish-brown color. While the cassia cinnamon stick is thick and tough after dried, the Ceylon counterpart is rolled into several layers due to its papery texture.

The outrageous price of Ceylon cinnamon could be its low coumarin level (250 times lower than cassia counterpart), which are considered toxic and carcinogenic to rodents (1). One teaspoon of cassia cinnamon could exceed the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for coumarin of 0.05 mg/lb (0.1 mg/kg) body weight/day recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (2). If your cinnamon is not labeled as "Ceylon", then it is probably the cassia variety.