Toxicity
Further information: Coumarin
A systematic review of adverse events as a result of cinnamon use reported gastrointestinal disorders and allergic reactions as the most frequently reported side effects.[60]
In 2008, the European Food Safety Authority considered the toxicity of coumarin, a component of cinnamon, and confirmed a maximum recommended tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.1 mg of coumarin per kg of body weight. Coumarin is known to cause liver and kidney damage in high concentrations and metabolic effect in humans with CYP2A6 polymorphism.[61][62] Based on this assessment, the European Union set a guideline for maximum coumarin content in foodstuffs of 50 mg per kg of dough in seasonal foods, and 15 mg per kg in everyday baked foods.[63] The maximum recommended TDI of 0.1 mg of coumarin per kg of body weight equates to 5 mg of coumarin (or 5.6 g C. verum with 0.9 mg coumarin per gram) for a body weight of 50 kg. C as shown in the table below:
C. cassia C. verum
Min Max Min Max
mg coumarin/g cinnamon 0.085 mg/g 12.18 mg/g (He et al., 2005)[64] 0.007 mg/g 0.9 mg/g
TDI cinnamon at 50 kg body weight (bw) 58.8 g/bw 0.4 g/bw 714.3 g/bw 5.6 g/bw
Due to the variable amount of coumarin in C. cassia, usually well over 1.0 mg of coumarin per g of cinnamon and sometimes up to 12 times that, C. cassia has a low safe-intake-level upper limit to adhere to the above TDI.[64] In contrast, C. verum has only trace amounts of coumarin.[65]
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