John Myers
Cassia and Ceylon are the economically most important types of cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka (formerly “Ceylon”), cassia cinnamon from China.
Both varieties differ in aroma, appearance and price. The more expensive Ceylon cinnamon is considered to have a finer aroma, while cassia is stronger and slightly sweet.
If you buy cinnamon in stick form, the external differences are easy to spot: Cassia cinnamon consists of a single thick, rolled layer of bark from the cassia tree. For Ceylon cinnamon, several thin inner barks of the Ceylon cinnamon tree are rolled together (see picture above).
With powder, the differences cannot be seen visually.
In retail there is no obligation to label the type of cinnamon. However, since Ceylon cinnamon is more expensive than cassia, it is usually labeled as such.
The two types of cinnamon also differ in their coumarin content. This is a natural component of cinnamon, which in animal experiments has a liver-damaging effect in higher doses. Ceylon cinnamon naturally contains less coumarin than cassia. However, the total intake is low at the usual consumption levels. Only those who like to use cinnamon regularly and use a lot of cinnamon as a spice should preferably use Ceylon cinnamon. EU-wide limit values for the coumarin content apply to foods containing cinnamon, such as Christmas cookies, desserts or breakfast cereals.
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