What Does Italy Have Against Gingerbread Cookies?

The Italian authorities have sent a warning through the European Union’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, claiming that gingerbread cookies have too much cinnamon, which in turn contains a substance that can damage the liver.

But the Swedish National Food Administration has dismissed the alarm, saying it is based on an obsolete standard, and that it would require the consumption of huge quantities of gingerbread cookies to approach the risk zone. The administration says that long before then you’d get a stomachache from overeating.

No one has suggested the alert is revenge for Sweden borrowing Italy’s St. Lucia. - By © Copyright Sveriges Radio 2007