ASTA Response to Consumer Reports Cinnamon Investigation

The following statement is attributable to Laura Shumow, executive director of the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA):

“The U.S. spice industry is committed to ensuring spices remain safe and that any presence of heavy metals, including lead, is as low as feasible. Based on the recent investigations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Consumer Reports, ASTA believes consumers should be confident in the quality and safety of cinnamon that is produced by major U.S. brands and sold by reputable retailers. This is bolstered by the fact that none of 12 cinnamon products that were identified on Consumer Reports’ “Don’t Use” list were manufactured by ASTA members.

“ASTA member companies typically achieve spice safety in several ways, including testing shipments of cinnamon to ensure they fall below established thresholds. This includes ASTA’s guidance level of 2 parts per million, which aligns with global regulatory standards. Likewise, the FDA launched an investigation of ground cinnamon products and has not taken any enforcement action against any products containing less than 2 parts per million.

“The lead limit of 1 part per million for cinnamon used by Consumer Reports is lower than the levels being used by ASTA, FDA, the European Union and other regulatory authorities. Since trace amounts of lead are unavoidable in cinnamon, as with many agricultural commodities due to the presence of lead in the environments in which they are grown, ASTA supports limits that are based on science and align with global regulatory standards. And scientific evidence demonstrates that a limit of 2 parts per million balances public health benefits with achievability.

“It is important to note that a distinction should be made between trace levels of lead that are naturally occurring in spices and excessive lead levels that are the result of economically motivated adulteration by some spice suppliers outside the U.S. ASTA considers the intentional adulteration of spices the most serious public health threat related to the potential presence of lead in spices. ASTA is committed to actively taking steps to prevent this dangerous and illegal practice.”