Cinnamon trade starts with botanical identity and style. Ceylon cinnamon and cassia types are not interchangeable, while whole quills or bark, broken pieces and ground powder carry different quality, sampling and contamination evidence. A comparable lot needs species, origin, whole or processed style, grade or contract basis, moisture, volatile-oil and coumarin basis where relevant, defects, treatment, package, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and information vintage.
The figures below are U.S. FDA regulatory-action criteria for whole bark and ground cinnamon, not commercial grade allowances. Codex is still developing an international cinnamon standard under the dried-bark group, so Atlas does not present the draft as a final adopted standard. None of these quality or regulatory facts is a current physical offer or delivered price.
A cinnamon label can cover Cinnamomum verum and several cassia types, but species affects bark structure, sensory profile and chemistry. The current Codex work explicitly considers species-differentiated requirements and whole, cut, cracked, broken and ground styles. Atlas retains the declared botanical species or type, origin and processing style rather than collapsing them into one generic cinnamon record.
Whole quills, bark and pieces can be inspected for infestation, mould, foreign matter, breakage and presentation. Grinding removes many visible identity cues and changes sampling, adulteration and laboratory evidence. FDA's current compliance guide therefore distinguishes whole cinnamon or cassia bark from ground cinnamon and specifies a minimum of six subsamples for defect determinations.
FDA CPG 525.225 cites five percent insect-infested pieces by weight for whole bark, and averages of 400 insect fragments or 11 rodent hairs per 50 grams for ground cinnamon. These are regulatory-action criteria, not acceptable-quality targets or a substitute for a buyer's contract. A commercial specification may be materially stricter and should state the actual test methods, sampling plan and disposition rules.
Quality standards and control frequencies do not determine a market price. A defensible physical comparison needs species or cassia type, origin, crop and processing date, whole or ground style, grade or contract basis, moisture and chemistry, contamination and residue evidence, treatment, packaging, lot and quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window, inspection basis and current permitted observations. Atlas withholds a physical estimate when those fields are missing.
No. They come from different botanical identities and can differ in bark form, sensory profile, chemistry and buyer requirements. The species or declared type must remain attached to the lot.
Codex lists cinnamon as active work under the proposed group standard for dried bark. Atlas labels that material as draft standards work and does not treat it as an adopted final cinnamon standard.
They are regulatory-action criteria in FDA CPG 525.225. They are not buyer specifications, target quality levels, commercial grades or permission to blend deficient lots.
Species or cassia type, origin, whole or ground style, grade or contract basis, moisture and chemistry, defects and foreign matter, residue and microbiology evidence, treatment, crop and processing dates, package, lot, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and evidence date.
Figures retain their source, period and review date. Corroboration is not promoted to primary evidence.