Clean vs dirty labels: Transparency and authenticity of the labels of Ceylon cinnamon

Ceylon cinnamon, which was regarded as a luxury spice during ancient times, has been consumed for its medicinal properties and health benefits for thousands of years. For centuries, Arabian traders controlled the European cinnamon trade through limited supplies from a country which they did not reveal. Content marketing analysis and chemical profiling of value-added products of Ceylon cinnamon in the global marketplace are proposed to investigate the clean status of the product labels. In the present study, a mixed-method approach was employed to investigate the labels of 6 types of value-added forms of cinnamon; i.e. quills, powder, tea, breakfast cereals, confectionery and bakery and nutraceuticals which are used in USA, UK, Mexico, Japan and products of Sri Lankan cinnamon exporters. Two hundred and seventy-six labels were analyzed to find out the aspects of clean status, transparency and authenticity. Key label claims of the cinnamon products lie within the bounds of cleaner, healthy, nutritional and sustainable attributes. Consumer perception lies within ingredients, nutritional value, country of origin and claim on safety and quality standards and certification. The value chain transparency, ethical rules (species mislabeling), and chemical profile of the pharmaceutical, confectionery and fragrance industry inputs were ignored. The best claim and competitive advantage of the Ceylon cinnamon; an ultra-low level (<0.01 mg/g Dry Weight) of Coumarin, were rarely indicated in labels. Lack of clean labels and traceability lagged Ceylon cinnamon in the 40 international markets while Cassia cinnamon (Coumarin content 2.23 mg/g DW), a major competitor of Ceylon cinnamon appears in the market with dirty labels. Millennials and upper-middle-class female consumers in their active ages, place a high demand on Ceylon cinnamon. Today’s tech-savvy global consumers of Ceylon cinnamon use market intelligence frequently for identifying product authenticity. Well equipped clean labels were found to be demanded by the modern cinnamon consumers.