Today we’re going to be talking about all things cinnamon allergy. Whilst a cinnamon allergy isn’t a common allergy, managing food allergies isn’t always the easiest walk in the park. This is especially true if you’re managing an allergy outside of the top 8/9/11/12/14 allergies (varies by country). Cinnamon is not a major allergen, so you’ll need to be very careful when purchasing foods and beverages, especially if you’re newly diagnosed.
If you need delicious cinnamon free recipes, check out the Advanced Recipe Search on RAISE, where Cinnamon Free is more than one of a hundred different filters you can use.
What is a Cinnamon Allergy?
A cinnamon allergy, in medical context, means that you have an immune system IgE mediated allergic reaction to cinnamon and foods containing cinnamon. An allergic reaction usually happens within a 4 hour window of consuming the food. In some people, they can also have an allergic reaction when touching cinnamon (called a contact allergy/contact reaction), or when inhaling cinnamon particulates in the air (called an airborne reaction).
Allergy symptoms can vary from person to person, as no two people are the same. Some people experience mild symptoms such as a persistent non-painful rash, gastrointestinal symptoms, stuffy nose, sore throat, and other ENT issues, whilst some have shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. There are hundreds of different symptoms a person can experience due to food allergies. The most severe type of allergic reaction is called anaphylaxis. Severe allergic reactions can lead to anaphylactic shock, and if left untreated, can lead to death.
It’s important that those with food allergies have an action plan, and epinephrine auto-injectors at the ready if necessary. Whilst having a food allergy does impact your life, know that your life (and your meals) will still be awesome.
Different Types of Cinnamon
There are four major types of cinnamon grown and sold around the world. You’ll often see them interchanged for one another in recipes etc. You’re probably reading this article because you have a cinnamon allergy. However, if you’d like to learn more about these four types including their flavour profiles, information on clinical studies, and potential for use, health.com has a great article on the topic. Here are the four major types of cinnamon:
Cassia Cinnamon
Sometimes called Chinese Cinnamon, this is grown in Southeast Asia and is the most commonly sold in North America. If you see a food label in the United States that simply states “cinnamon”, there’s a good chance this is the type of cinnamon that was used.
Ceylon Cinnamon
This is often called “true cinnamon” and it’s grown in Sri Lanka. It’s popular with brands who promote health and wellness, as there are several health benefits to using this specific type of cinnamon.
Korintje Cinnamon
This type of cinnamon is mostly grown in Indonesia, and has a milder flavour compared to other types of cinnamon. Additionally, the cost to harvest and produce this cinnamon is lower, so you may see it in a range of packaged foods in your grocery store. However, you’ll probably see just “cinnamon” on the label.
Saigon Cinnamon
Saigon cinnamon is grown in Vietnam and has a very rich flavour. You may see this in coffee shops, as it’s great for sprinkling on top of drinks.
Symptoms of a Cinnamon Allergy
Not every reaction is life-threatening anaphylaxis. People can experience a wide range of allergic reactions, as no two people are the same. That doesn’t mean it’s not a true allergy, and that it shouldn’t be taken seriously. It’s also important to know that previous reactions don’t predict future reactions. In some people, with continued exposure to the allergen, the reaction becomes more severe each time. The worst type of life-threatening reaction is called anaphylactic shock. If left untreated, it can lead to death. If you’re managing a food allergy, be sure to have a prescription for an epinephrine auto-injector (often times called an Epi-Pen or AviQ)
Upon ingesting cinnamon, if you’re allergic to it, symptoms can include skin rashes, itchy/sore throat or mouth, chest pains, GI pain/distress, flushing, hives, runny nose, swelling of the tongue or lips, and more. If you have an allergic reaction to something you’ve eaten or drank, or are experiencing symptoms of anaphylaxis, seek immediate medical attention.
Generally speaking, the time frame for an IgE mediated allergic reaction is immediate to 4 hours. What that means is some people have immediate reactions upon ingesting cinnamon or something containing cinnamon proteins whilst others have a more delayed onset of symptoms. After the 4 hour window, many healthcare professionals and allergists would consider the reaction to be an intolerance, rather than a food allergy.
Whilst the mechanisms in the body that produce these reactions are similar, they aren’t identical. An allergy can lead to symptoms of anaphylaxis (which can lead to anaphylactic shock if not treated), and a food intolerance won’t lead to anaphylaxis. In some severe cases of an intolerance, the symptoms will appear to be allergic symptoms rather than the classic GI and skin problems many people with an intolerance report.
Remember, and this is critical: no two people are the same. If you suspect a cinnamon allergy, you can request an allergy test (your primary care doctor will most likely refer you to an allergist for this). No matter the test results, if a food is causing symptoms, stop eating the food to prevent further issues from developing.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis
In some people, cinnamon is a major source of skin irritation. People with a cinnamon allergy may experience an allergic skin reaction when eating cinnamon (sometimes they have a red ring/rash around their lips). Alternatively, they may have a skin based reaction to something in a skin care product.
Either way, it’s important to identify the cause of the allergy so the item can be removed. Yale Medicine has a great article if you’d like to learn more about allergic contact dermatitis. Remember, no two people are the same, so if this isn’t something you experience, that’s OK.
How is a Cinnamon Allergy Diagnosed?
There are several ways to find out you’re allergic to cinnamon. For people who experience an allergic response that’s not life threatening, they usually schedule an appointment with their healthcare provider. This journey can look different for everyone. Some GPs understand right away what’s happening and refer the patient to an allergist for further testing. On the other hand, some GPs won’t make the connection and think it’s something else since the symptoms can overlap with other medical conditions.
Remember, you are your own best advocate. If you’re certain that something you’re eating is causing some type of reaction, insist that you be referred to an allergy doctor or GI, in addition to whatever other tests your GP would like to order.
Generally, an allergist can diagnosis you wither with a skin prick test or via blood tests. Sometimes, patch testing is used. This article talks more about the different types of tests used in the United States. It’s important to know that testing isn’t always 100% accurate.
The gold standard for a non-life threatening allergy is an in-office oral challenge. Your doctor will have you ingest the food then monitor your vitals. Additionally, they will have you raise you heart rate to ensure a reaction doesn’t happen. With life threatening allergic reactions, or severe allergic reactions, the cause and effect are very obvious and testing isn’t always required.
However, no two people are the same. Some people have a true allergy with a delayed onset of symptoms. If you’re finding that testing isn’t helping, you may want to work with your medical team on an elimination diet and detailed food journaling. This can help them better understand what you’re experiencing and what may be the root cause of your symptoms.
Ultimately, YOU are in charge. If you don’t want to eat a specific food, you don’t have to, even if you don’t have an official diagnosis. Not comfortable with a food challenge? Don’t do it. If there’s testing you want to have done, be vocal and request it.
Cross Contact Potential
Cinnamon is not one of the most common allergens*, however, it’s widely used in food, beverages, and even health/beauty/personal care products. What that means for someone with a cinnamon allergy is they need to know if they can tolerate trace amounts of cinnamon.
I want you to take a moment to think about glitter. Imagine someone walked into your kitchen and threw glitter everywhere. Then, with a smile of course, you cleaned it all up. Guess what? You’re going to keep finding bits of glitter here and there. That’s just the way it is.
Now, whilst this isn’t a perfect metaphor, that’s what food manufacturing is like. When equipment is shared across products, even though the equipment is cleaned, trace amounts of food can be on the equipment. Those trace amounts can get into whatever product that uses the equipment next.
Through all of my work and the thousands of people I’ve met with food allergies, I’ve seen a trend where about 30% of people with food allergies can’t eat food made on shared equipment with what they’re allergic to. I’m going to stop here and point you to this article on cross-contact/contamination if you’d like to learn more about the topic, how food is made, and what you need to be on the lookout for.
*In the United States, the Top 9 Allergens are: wheat, milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut (including coconut as per the FDA), fish, shellfish, and sesame.
Cinnamon is adored by many and used in a huge range of products. These foods-to-avoid may seem daunting at first, but the great news is this: there are many brands that have cinnamon free versions of these products, and you can make a lot of these foods at home.
Here’s a list of foods that commonly contain cinnamon (not an exhaustive list) and should be avoided until you’ve confirmed their safety with manufacturers:
- Baked Goods (cookies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, pies, etc,)
- Breakfast Bars
- Carrot Cake and Carrot Cake-type Products
- Cereal (not just Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but in a range of flavours)
- Flavoured Coffee Drinks (including bottled drinks in grocery stores, a spiced latte, etc.)
- Flavoured Syrups
- Foods Labeled “Spiced”
- Granola
- Ice Cream
- Mulling Spices
- Pancakes & Waffles
- Paired with Fall Flavours (pumpkin, nutmeg, etc.)
- Paired with Holiday Flavours (apple, pumpkin, ginger)
- Paired with Raisins (think raisin bread, etc.)
- Paired with Tree Nuts
- Power Balls
- Pumpkin Spice
- Shampoo
- Snicker Doodle Cookies
- Snack Bars
- Toothpaste
- Trail Mix
- Warming Spices
Hidden Sources of Cinnamon
There are a lot of unsuspecting places to find cinnamon. However, once you’ve managed the allergy for several months, you’ll get the hang of finding items that are safe for you to use. In the early days of managing your cinnamon allergy, I’d suggest eliminating all personal care products, including toothpaste, until you’ve contacted manufacturers to confirm their safety. In the meantime, you can brush your teeth with a simple homemade baking soda solution.
Here’s a list of foods that should be avoided until you’ve confirmed their safety with the manufacturer:
- Chocolate Products, Especially Chocolate Cake
- Curry Powder
- Natural Flavours
- Spice Blends
- Some Alcohols (liquor, beer, etc.)
- Blends of Essential Oils (not in single oil products)
- Fragrance Additives
- Fragrance Mix
- Personal Care Products
- Skin Care Products
Reading Ingredient Labels
Reading labels will always be your first line of defense when determining if a product is cinnamon free. Since it’s a popular spice, you will see it frequently in packaged foods and beverages. Food allergy labeling laws cite that major allergens must be called out. I’m sure you’ve seen something like “contains milk” on an ingredient label. However, since cinnamon isn’t one of the top allergens* (8/9/11/14), it doesn’t have to be in bold or in the contains statement.
Take your time and use your finger to guide your eyes as you read ingredient labels. You’ll either see “cinnamon” or one of the four types of cinnamon listed earlier in the article. If you see these terms, the product contains cinnamon and you should look for something else.
If you see terms such as natural flavours, reach out to the company to see if the product contains cinnamon. Whilst food labels have to disclose all of the ingredients, there are some loop holes available to them. For example, the term “natural flavors” isn’t precise and represents thousands of individual ingredients and chemical compounds. The best way to determine if a product will be safe for you is to reach out to food manufacturers to find out what’s really in the food. Anytime they tell you “that’s proprietary”, walk away. It’s not worth the risk when a company isn’t willing to be transparent.
*In the United States, the Top 9 Allergens are: wheat, milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut (including coconut as per the FDA), fish, shellfish, and sesame.
Balsam of Peru Connection
A Balsam of Peru allergy is on the rare side, however, it overlaps with several ingredients, including cinnamon. Balsam of Peru is a fragrant resinous liquid, and it’s collected from trees in Central America. It’s not as widely used anymore, but still something you should be aware of if you have a cinnamon allergy.
It’s related to cinnamon, vanilla, and clove flavourings and fragrances. With those three items, there are a lot of derivative ingredients to look out for. In the case of cinnamon, cinnamic acid (derived from cinnamon oil) is used in a range of products (both food and non-food products).
If you find that after eliminating cinnamon from your diet you’re still having adverse reactions to food, ask your medical team about Balsam of Peru. If you’re allergic to that as well, eliminate all of the necessary foods to see if symptoms improve.
Answering Your Cinnamon Allergy Questions
Do I need to avoid all types of cinnamon if I have a cinnamon spice allergy?
Yes, you’ll need to avoid all types, unless your medical team has advised you differently.
Is there a good alternative to cinnamon rolls?
I’d suggest doing one of three things. First, I’d make cinnamon rolls at home and omit the cinnamon from the filling, since that’s where the cinnamon usually is. The actual dough/bun portion doesn’t usually contain cinnamon.
The second option is to replace the cinnamon in the filling with granulated date sugar, granulated coconut sugar, or granulated maple sugar. Your third option is to look up recipes for honey buns or sticky buns. Traditionally, both call for cinnamon, but you can swap it for a granulated sweetener + a pinch of nutmeg for flavour.
Should I avoid artificial cinnamon flavor if I’m allergic to cinnamon?
You’ll need to assess artificial and natural flavors on a case-by-case basis. Some artificial flavors are made from a chemical compound that have nothing to do with what they taste like, and aren’t derived from the ingredient they claim to taste like. Other flavoring agents will contain some kind of derivative of the item it claims to taste like.
If I’m being honest, you’ll find it easier to avoid cinnamon in packaged foods if you look for simple/basic foods made from real, whole food ingredients. When reaching out to companies, if they’re unable to, or refuse to tell you what the flavouring agent is derived from, skip the product. It’s not worth the risk, and companies should be transparent with ingredients.
Do I need to avoid cinnamon if I have oral allergy syndrome?
There’s no evidence to suggest that someone with oral allergy syndrome (now called pollen food allergy syndrome) needs to avoid cinnamon. It’s not cross reactive with alder, birch, grass, mugwort, or ragweed pollens.
Is cinnamon one of the latex allergy cross-reactive foods?
No, cinnamon is not considered cross-reactive to latex in the high, moderate, or low cross-reactive categories.
If cinnamon is in cosmetic products, does it have to be labeled?
The guidelines put forth by the food and drug administration (FDA, here in the United States specifically) does not require the same type of labeling in cosmetic products as food products. What that means is that you’ll have to contact each company to find out if there’s cinnamon or a cinnamon derivative in their ingredients. Most likely, you’ll talk with a rep, but ultimately will need to talk with the Q&A department, or one of their scientists. Don’t be surprised if it takes them a week to get the information back to you.
A lot of cosmetics, especially the non-organic variety, have a long list of ingredients, and each one will need to be checked for the presence of cinnamon or a cinnamon derivative.
When I’m managing a cinnamon food allergy, do I have to avoid eating other spices?
On the surface, no you won’t need to avoid eating other spices such as nutmeg, cloves, and turmeric. However, you’ll need to avoid eating foods that say “spices”, without fully listing out which spices are involved. In that case, you’ll want to contact the manufacturer to find out the complete list.
Additionally, you’ll need to avoid eating foods with certain spice blends such as “holiday spice” or curry powder. Many spice blends (along with several particular foods popular during the holidays) will contain cinnamon. Due to shared equipment, there’s also the potential for cross-contact with cinnamon proteins (think about shared equipment at a bakery), so always contact a company when in doubt.
What would be a good seasoning blend for oatmeal that’s cinnamon free?
This is a great question, and yes, I have a few topping/seasoning ideas for your oatmeal.
- Freeze Dried Strawberries (crush them) + Splash of Vanilla Extract [think strawberries and cream oatmeal]
- Chocolate Chips + Banana Slices [the chocolate chips will melt a bit and have an amazing taste and texture]
- Ginger + Turmeric + Bit of Molasses [think cinnamon free ginger snap cookies in oatmeal form, great if you enjoy warming spices]
- Maple Extract + Splash of Vanilla + Ginger [think faux gingerbread pancakes in oatmeal form]
- Wild Blueberries + Splash Lemon Juice + Splash Vanilla Extract [wild blueberries are very small when compared to regular blueberries, and they may be more enjoyable in your oatmeal]
Is cinnamon found in a lot of packaged snacks?
Yes and no. I think it will be generally easy to find packaged snacks whilst managing a cinnamon allergy or cinnamon sensitivity. There will be vanilla snacks, fruity snacks, chocolate snacks, etc., that will all be cinnamon free.
You’ll always need to be diligent and read labels. Snacks containing ginger and snacks that are holiday themed are more likely to contain cinnamon so be extra vigilant when reading the labels of those snacks.
Is there a treatment to cure a cinnamon allergy?
No, there’s actually no cure for food allergies, including a cinnamon allergy. In fact, if someone goes through Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) and pass eventually, we say they’re “in remission”, not cured. Also know that it’s possible to outgrow a cinnamon allergy (there’s no way to predict if this will happen to you).
There are some therapies available for treating food allergies including Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) and TIIP (a lesser known option that’s on the newer side and has mixed success rates).
You’ll want to look up these treatment options to see if it’s something you’d like to explore. If this is for a child, please always consider fully informed consent before subjecting them to a form of treatment.
Do you know of recipes for cinnamon free desserts?
Why yes I do. I’m going to have you take a look at the Advanced Recipe Search on RAISE. It has more than 125 filters to mix and match, one of which is cinnamon free, and another is desserts.
With this link, I’ve taken the liberty to tick the boxes for you so you can see the results (175 desserts to choose from). You can also scroll back up and add any other dietary restrictions you may be managing. All of the recipes on RAISE are gluten, dairy, egg, sesame, and lupine free, as well as being free from a lot of other major and less common allergens.
If you’d like to try your hand at making cinnamon free pastries, RAISE also has a section of free-from Pastry Recipes. However, if you’re not gluten free + egg free and more, I’d actually suggest finding a good pastry chef online and following their recipes that are naturally cinnamon free. Matt Adlard is a great starting point, and he has a (good for beginners) cookbook full of awesome pastries, most of which are cinnamon free.
Is a cinnamon allergy related to a pollen allergy?
No, a cinnamon allergy isn’t related to a pollen allergy (including oral allergy syndrome and pollen food allergy syndrome). You won’t need to avoid foods that are cross reactive with the major pollen types.
I have black pepper and cinnamon allergies. Do you know of a decent curry option for me?
Yes, I do have something for you. In fact, I have two cinnamon free, black pepper free curry seasoning blends you can make at home. You’ll want to make each one, give it a try, and if you like it, scale up to have a spice jar fully loaded and ready to go.
Option 1
- 3/4 tsp Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/4 tsp Mustard
- Pinch Cayenne
Option 2
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley Leaf (Mountain Rose Herbs sells this)
- 3/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek (if tolerated)
- 1/4 tsp Ground Mushroom
- 1/4 tsp Thai Basil
I use organic ground spices for these blends, with the exception of the parsley and basil. Those are leaves rather than ground.
