You say cinnamon, I say cassia

My cinnamon ice cream post prompted someone to leave a comment about the potentially toxic effects of cinnamon.

It’s Monday morning. I spent the entire weekend cleaning out the basement and dealing with mouse nests and the moldy fallout of a summer’s worth of floods. I’m not in the mood for fear mongers. Allow me to be blunt. Unless you impale yourself on an upturned and extremely pointy piece, cinnamon won’t kill you.

• Fact: Cinnamon (cinnamomum zelanicum) is native to Sri Lanka and is “true” cinnamon. Although somewhat delicate in flavour, it contains eugenol, an essential oil, that gives it a hint of clove.
• Fact: Cassia (cinnamomum cassia) contains more volatile oils than true cinnamon and is therefore more pungent. Although cassia is commonly sold in North America as cinnamon, it’s not a marketing scam, as the commenter’s link suggested. We are not being fooled, tricked, duped or otherwise hoodwinked. We simply prefer the stronger flavour and aroma.
• Fact: Both species contain coumarin, the potentially toxic chemical in question. Even though cassia contains far more than true cinnamon, the quantities are small. While the synthetic version of this compound is used in warfarin, naturally occurring coumarin is safe to eat, after all…
• Fact: Strawberries, apricots and cherries contain coumarin. I eat far more of these in one sitting than I do in a year’s worth of cinnamon consumption.

Sorry to have used Latin on you this early in the week. It was necessary. I can’t have people tossing their cinnamon sticks in the garbage for no reason and getting all stressed about their spice cookies. Worry about the real culinary threat — artificial vanilla.