Help! I accidentally put cassia cinnamon in my conures food

[xbabybree]

Hi all. I was meal prepping my gcc's chop for the month, and I accidentally put 1/2 tsp of cassia cinnamon. I did the math and it's about .2 mg of coumarin per days worth of food which i know she won't even eat remotely close to this much. Is this too toxic or am I good to use it still? I would hate to throw out a whole months worth, but I don't really want to chance it.

 

[Emma&pico]

@Mizzely should be able to help you

 

[xbabybree]

Whoops. I just redid my math, and it's actually .1 mg of coumarin in a days worth of food. Please help

 

[WillowQ]

I would feel fine to use it but I know some people are very worried about cassia cinnamon. For me I just would not let my bird chew on a cinnamon stick. I think a bit of flavoring in food is ok. But others may not agree with me.

 

[xbabybree]

That makes me feel a bit better! Thank you! I will not be making this mistake again that's for sure!

 

[Shezbug]

I personally would not feel comfortable using it given it is a blood thinner and also causes liver damage... in my mind, any amount of something known to do the damage cassia is known to do is too much for our birds and if you are going to be feeding it daily rather than as a simple once off meal then that to me makes it even less desirable. I am in the camp of better safe than sorry and I do tend to be over cautious at times when it comes to the life and health of those I am responsible for so I would really like to see what @Mizzely says about it being fed daily for a month in the amount you have added.

 

[Icey]

Knowing it MAY cause more harm than good, until you research it more, or @Mizzely replies, I would be cautious.
If you have to throw it out, that's better than seeing your bird suffer.
Just my opinion...Better safe than sorry.

 

[Icey]

Okay, curiosity got the best of me and here is the reply I got when I asked if it was toxic to birds. I, personally would be dumping it.

Cassia/Chinese cinnamon is NOT safe for birds as it contains high levels of coumarin, a blood thinner which is toxic and can cause liver damage or failure. Ensure that you only offer Ceylon (True) cinnamon to your Parrots.

 

[xbabybree]

Into the trash it goes! Thank you all for your feedback. I definitely dont want to risk my baby becoming sick.

 

[Icey]

Into the trash it goes! Thank you all for your feedback. I definitely dont want to risk my baby becoming sick.

You are welcome. You can always ask anything here if you're not sure. Lots of members (especially the moderators) have alot of knowledge.

 

[Mizzely]

Sorry I wasn't here! My guess is a lot of people use cassia cinnamon when they don't know any better. But, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[WillowQ]

Hmm. I know when I’ve taken powdered cinnamon pills (supposed to regulate blood sugar) they make me feel jittery and anxious. But I figured that is a huge dose in comparison. Any idea what that might be about?

 

[WillowQ]

Foods for parrots: 19 spices for parrots

As good parrot parents, we're always looking for new foods for parrots to enrich their lives. Let's talk spices and which are parrot-safe.

blog.parrotessentials.co.uk

This links to a webpage of spices you can feed to birds.

mom still not sure how to tell between safe and unsafe cinnamon so I’m going to continue looking. Safe= Ceylon cinnamon. Unsafe=cassia cinnamon.

I have been reading that Ceylon cinnamon is more expensive and you find it in natural or organic food stores but that doesn’t seem cut and dried enough to me. If it’s that dangerous I would want to see the type identified.

I’m sure Penzeys would identify but would the cheaper spice makers? I will check those that I have in my kitchen. I don’t normally spice the birds food. Sometimes I give an anise star. ???

 

[WillowQ]

“Assessment of coumarin levels in ground cinnamon available in the Czech retail market
Jana Blahová et al. ScientificWorldJournal. 2012.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the coumarin content of ground cinnamon purchased from retail markets in the Czech Republic. No sample was labelled with information on the botanical source, but, in some cases, the countries of origin were specified. For comparison, a single cinnamon sample imported directly from a plantation in Sri Lanka that came from Cinnamomum verum was analyzed. Results from 60 ground cinnamon samples comprising twelve brands confirmed a high content of coumarin, with mean levels ranging from 2,650 to 7,017 mg · kg(-1). The high coumarin content confirmed that these cinnamon samples obtained from cassia cinnamon were in contrast to the sample from Sri Lanka, which was coumarin-free.”

this article basically says in order to get cinnamon that’s coumarin-free, buy cinnamon that’s labeled as from Sri Lanka. (Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon. And Ceylon cinnamon is the safe cinnamon.

I wrongly thought that the pharmaceutical action and toxicity wasn’t proven. The difficulty lies with knowing you have pure Ceylon cinnamon and not cassia cinnamon.
This is great info and I’m glad I know the difference now.

 

[Shezbug]

Hmm. I know when I’ve taken powdered cinnamon pills (supposed to regulate blood sugar) they make me feel jittery and anxious. But I figured that is a huge dose in comparison. Any idea what that might be about?

Ceylon (as far as I am aware and understand it) is the only real true cinnamon- Siagon and Cassia cinnamon are apparently not actually cinnamon but taste very similar, they are from a totally different plant.

 

[Mizzely]

My understanding is that if it's unlabeled and you are in the US, it's almost certainly Cassia.

 

[Mizzely]

More information that you probably didn't need to know

Cinnamon - Ceylon Vs Cassia, Health Benefits, and Other Interesting Facts

Cinnamon comes from the bark of evergreen trees of the genus cinnamomum. When cinnamon is harvested, the bark is stripped and sun dried. As it dries, cinnamon curls into a well-known shape, called quills. If not ground, it is then sold as whole cinnamon or cinnamon sticks.

www.organiclifestylemagazine.com

 

[WillowQ]

Well, I want to know because I don’t want to feed my birds something that will hurt them.

I don’t often use spices in cooking FOR birds but I feel bad thst I ok’d something that was possibly dangerous. And the reading thst I did last night suggests parrots really like the flavor so it could be used to get them to eat more of an unliked food.

 

[Mizzely]

Yes, I meant more that the link I posted went far more in depth than anyone probably actually needed. I haven't noticed my birds enjoying food more or less with cinnamon so I just skip it.

 

[WillowQ]

P.s. what bothers me is that it’s the coumarin that causes liver damage in high doses, but what’s a high dose from either Ceylon cinnamon or cassia cinnamon?
And it seems like you don’t know exactly what you’re getting unless you buy from an organic or specialty store.

ok, mizzley, I thought that a “good” (bird food) cook would be spicing things as I know some of those warm foods that are sold are spiced. Like maybe oatmeal would be a healthy breakfast for a Quaker parakeet who has high blood lipids, as it is for people, and the cinnamon might get them to eat it better.

or for example if I gave my parrot a bite of pumpkin pie, or my cereal, is that a problem if it’s cassia cinnamon? it would be nice to know if it’s dangerous to share.