Coumarin in Ceylon Cinnamon: What Grade Tells You (and What Only a Lab Can)
Search "low coumarin cinnamon" and you'll find dozens of pages selling you a grade — Alba, C5, C4 — as if the label told you the coumarin level. It doesn't. Here's the honest version, including the part most cinnamon sellers won't tell you.
Coumarin content: Ceylon vs cassia (published survey ranges)
| Cinnamon type | Botanical name | Typical coumarin (mg per gram) | 1 tsp (≈2.6 g) contains |
|---|---|---|---|
| True Ceylon | Cinnamomum verum | below detection – ~0.3 | ~0 – 0.8 mg |
| Cassia (Chinese) | Cinnamomum cassia | ~0.7 – 12 | ~1.8 – 31 mg |
| Cassia (Indonesian / Korintje) | Cinnamomum burmannii | ~1.7 – 7.7 | ~4.4 – 20 mg |
Ranges from published food-safety surveys (Germany's BfR; a Czech retail-market study). Actual values vary widely by batch — which is the whole point. For scale, the EFSA/BfR tolerable daily intake for coumarin is 0.1 mg per kg of body weight — about 7 mg/day for a 70 kg adult. Calculate your personal daily limit →
What coumarin is, and why it has a daily limit
Coumarin is a naturally occurring aromatic compound found in many plants — including cassia cinnamon, where it's abundant. In large, sustained doses it can stress the liver in sensitive individuals, which is why the European Food Safety Authority set a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.1 mg per kg of body weight. It's not acutely toxic and occasional use isn't the concern — the issue is people using cassia cinnamon daily, in supplements or heaped spoonfuls, over months. Germany's federal risk institute (BfR) issued public guidance on exactly this. True Ceylon cinnamon sidesteps the problem because its coumarin is so low that you'd need to eat an implausible amount to approach the limit.
Does the grade (Alba, C5, C4) change coumarin? No — and here's why that matters
This is where most of the internet gets it wrong, and where we're going to disagree with a lot of cinnamon marketing — including, until recently, our own.
The common claim
"Alba grade is the lowest-coumarin cinnamon; thicker grades like C5 or M5 have more." Sold as a reason to pay a premium for Alba specifically for safety.
What the evidence actually shows
Grade describes the quill — its diameter, appearance, and how finely it's rolled — which drives price and presentation. Coumarin, by contrast, tracks with the individual tree's genetics and the harvest, and varies batch to batch within any grade. A specific Alba batch and a specific C5 batch can land either way.
All true Ceylon cinnamon is low in coumarin because it's Cinnamomum verum — that's the species talking, not the grade. Choose Alba for its delicate flavour, its paper-thin quills, and its appearance; choose it because it's the finest grade Sri Lanka produces. Just don't choose it on the belief that the grade stamp is a coumarin number. It isn't.
So how do you actually know your cinnamon's coumarin level?
The same way you know its lead level: a certificate of analysis for the specific batch. Not the brand's average, not the grade, not the country of origin as a proxy — the measured value for the lot in your bag. Coumarin is a standard line on a spice COA alongside heavy metals. If a seller can't produce one, they're quoting you the same published averages in the table above and hoping their supply matches.
We publish a certificate for every batch we ship. Coumarin is joining our per-batch panel (our current published reports cover species ID and heavy metals — including the lead results here), and measured coumarin values will appear on each batch's certificate as that testing rolls out. When they do, this page will show real numbers from real lots — not survey ranges.
Frequently asked questions
How much coumarin is in Ceylon cinnamon?
Only trace amounts — published surveys put true Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) from below detection up to roughly 0.3 mg of coumarin per gram, versus about 0.7–12 mg per gram for cassia — commonly tens of times less, and often far more. At normal culinary use it stays far below the EFSA daily limit at any body weight.
Does Alba grade Ceylon cinnamon have less coumarin than C5 or C4?
Not reliably. Grade describes the quill's thickness and appearance, not its coumarin. All true Ceylon is low in coumarin because of the species; within Ceylon, coumarin varies by tree and harvest, batch to batch, rather than by grade. Only a batch lab test gives a real number.
Is the coumarin in Ceylon cinnamon dangerous?
For true Ceylon cinnamon, no — the levels are so low that normal use stays far under the EFSA tolerable daily intake. The coumarin concern applies to cassia cinnamon used daily in large amounts, which can approach or exceed the limit, especially for children.
Why does cassia have so much more coumarin than Ceylon?
It's a difference between species. Cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia and C. burmannii) naturally contains high coumarin; true Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) contains only traces. Most cinnamon sold cheaply as "cinnamon" is cassia.
How can I check the coumarin in a specific cinnamon?
Ask the seller for the certificate of analysis for that batch — coumarin is a standard test alongside heavy metals. Grade, brand, and origin are not substitutes for a measured batch value.
Cinnamon that shows you the number
We test every batch and publish the certificate — species, heavy metals, and coumarin as it joins the panel. No grade myths, no averages standing in for a real result.
Shop Alba-Grade Ceylon Cinnamon