EFSA advises that cassia gum 'not of safety concern'

The announcement follows a request from the European Commission for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to provide a scientific opinion on the ingredient, which is also sometimes called Chinese cinnamon, for use as a gelling agent and as a thickener in foods.

A food company sought authorisation to use cassia gum in ice cream and frozen milk desserts for stabilising and controlling overrun and for the improvement of water retention in certain baked goods (including cheese-crme filling in pastries and other cheese-crme filled desserts).

It also wanted to use the ingredient as a thickening agent for soup mixes, sauces and selected oil-free salad dressings, and for the improvement of texture and water retention in yogurt and yogurt drinks, sausages, corned beef, and canned poultry meats.

Cassia gum is intended to be used in sausages, corned beef, and canned poultry meats at levels up to 1.5 g/kg and in all other applications at levels up to 2.5 g/kg.

It is EFSA's job to ensure the safety of such food ingredients. After investigation, the authority concluded that while the toxicological data on cassia gum are insufficient to establish an acceptable daily intake (ADI), existing data do not give reason for concern.

Cassia gum is the flour from the purified endosperm of seeds from Cassia tora and Cassia obtusifolia. Cassia is an evergreen tree native to Asia, and like its close relative, Cinnamon, is used primarily for its aromatic bark, which is used as a spice.

The EFSA panel stressed the importance of inspection of the seeds for cassia gum preparation for the presence of seeds of C. occidentalis, which has to be less than 0.1 per cent by selection based on colour and shape.