Facebook post warning about dangers of hot cross buns ‘misleading’ with scientists saying you’d have to eat hundreds to get sick

A Facebook post warning consumers about the ‘dangers’ of hot cross bun ingredients has been dubbed misleading by scientists.

AAP FactCheck investigated the claim, which has been circulating since 2019, and features an image of hot cross bun flavouring and the product’s ‘risks’ list which includes: “May cause sensitisation by skin contact”, “may cause cancer”, and “toxic to aquatic organisms”.

The post’s caption reads, “For those of you who eat hot cross buns, bakers use a capful of bunspice essence per 25kg of dough to make them, have a look at the warning on the first picture. Know what’s in the food you eat and buy for your family …. and we wonder why the rates of cancer and auto immune (sic) disease are ever increasing! #WholeFoods #PlantBased #MayCauseCancer.”

The post has been viewed more than 650,000 times and attracted more than 25,000 shares.

University of New South Wales food safety expert Julian Cox said the post took the safety warnings out of context.

“The first part says it contains greater than 60 per cent ethyl alcohol, so basically normal ethanol,” Associate Professor Cox said.

“Even ethanol itself consumed directly in high amounts, as we know, can be toxic.

“If you were to drink that bunspice essence directly from the bottle, the ethanol itself could create acute or chronic health effects.”

“The point is the labelling on that is intended to represent safety warnings and risk around the products in that bottle, not about its end use.”

Associate Professor Cox said a person would have to eat “hundreds of hot cross buns” made with the bun spice essence in one sitting to actually see a toxic effect.

A spokesperson for IXOM, the parent organisation of the company which produces the bunspice essence, said the warning on the label related to the use of cinnamon oil drinking the product straight or consuming it in ‘copious quantities’.

“One of the spices used in bun spice is cinnamon oil … which is naturally occurring, however levels are monitored due to a component it naturally contains,” the spokesperson said.

“For this reason, any ingredients using a certain amount of cinnamon oil needs a health warning. It’s Australian law and food regulations.”

You would need to eat tonnes of hot cross buns on a regular basis for any ill effects — IXOM spokesman.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, cinnamon contains safrole, a substance that is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” based on the results of animal studies.

The department also states it found no studies linking “human cancer and exposure specifically to safrole”.

The IXOM spokesperson told AAP FactCheck the “may cause cancer’ warning on the label was required by Safe Work Australia due to the presence of safrole, which the regulatory body lists as a hazardous chemical.

IXOM’s spokesperson said the bunspice essence formulation was changed in 2016, reducing the cinnamon oil to a low level that does not require a warning but the label on the bottle in the Facebook post states the date of manufacture as January 13, 2015.

The spokesperson said a kilogram of hot cross buns would contain about half a millilitre of cinnamon oil.

“You would need to eat tonnes of hot cross buns on a regular basis for any ill effects.”