across much of Nordic Europe. But the kanelsnegle, or what is more commonly known in the States as a cinnamon roll, is the target of new European Union regulations that claim it is a threat to human health. No, not because of all the processed sugar, brominated white flour and other refined ingredients used in its production -- European officials are worried about all natural cassia cinnamon, which they insist contains a compound that can damage the liver.This compound is known as coumarin, and it is actually just a natural blood-thinning and appetite-suppressing agent found in all sorts of common plants and herbs. But because a study published earlier this year in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that the coumarin content in the most common variety of cinnamon, cassia, may increase the risk of liver damage, EU health authorities have been on a crusade to eradicate it from the food supply.
According to The Atlantic, existing EU regulations already limit how much cinnamon can be added to certain foods. For traditional or seasonal pastries, for instance, European bakers are only allowed to use 50 milligrams of cinnamon per kilogram of dough, while common pastries are limited to only 15 milligrams of cinnamon per kilogram of dough. And each EU member state is responsible for determining which pastries fall into which category.
In the case of the Netherlands, the Danish health authority recently decided to reclassify kanelsnegle as a common pastry rather than a seasonal or traditional one, which means that bakers will now have to cut back the amount of cinnamon they use by at least 70 percent. This is obviously problematic for an iconic holiday treat that is centered around the use of copious amounts of cinnamon.
"It's the end of the cinnamon roll as we know it," stated Hardy Christensen, head of the Danish Baker's Association to the UK's Daily Mail. "Cinnamon rolls are of course a traditional Danish baked product. We've been making bread and cakes with cinnamon for 200 years."
Misplaced regulations ignore processed junk food while demonizing natural spice
What makes this latest nanny state endeavor even more ridiculous is the fact that health authorities are touting it as a protective measure while completely ignoring the many other unhealthy ingredients used in cinnamon rolls. Ironically, cinnamon is probably the healthiest ingredient used in cinnamon rolls, which are nothing more than processed junk food.
"An average person would have to eat so many Danish pastries in order to be affected, they would certainly die of obesity before being hurt by a low level of cinnamon," stated Paul Nuttal, deputy leader of the UK Independence Party, to the Telegraph. The Independence Party openly advocates for Britain's withdrawal from the overbearing European Union, which is notorious for pulling these types of regulatory stunts.
"We don't need the nanny state or the EU to tell us what do and certainly not how many Danish pastries we should eat for Christmas," Nuttal said.
According to reports, Danish food authorities are giving bakers until March to comply with the new rules, which they hilariously insist will decrease the "risks" associated with eating too much cinnamon. UK food authorities, on the other hand, admit that limited research indicting coumarin as unsafe is "debatable," which is why it will not be passing similar restrictions on cinnamon use for British bakers.
