Some disadvantages of saffron

Some disadvantages of saffron

Saffron is safe in the small amounts used in everyday cooking, but there are a few disadvantages of saffron worth knowing if you use it in concentrated or medicinal doses.

Pregnancy: normal culinary use of saffron is not established to be harmful, but pregnant women are commonly advised to stick to typical cooking amounts and be cautious with concentrated or medicinal-dose saffron products. One small case-control study looked at women working on Iranian saffron farms and found a higher rate of miscarriage among those with regular occupational exposure during harvesting — inhaling saffron dust and handling the raw stigmas — compared with non-exposed women; the study’s authors themselves noted its small size and could not rule out other contributing factors (Ajam et al., Asia Pacific Journal of Medical Toxicology, 2014). That study examined workplace exposure, not eating saffron in food or supplements, so it doesn’t speak directly to oral consumption. Still, given saffron’s traditional use in some cultures as a uterine stimulant at high doses, it’s sensible for pregnant women to check with a doctor before taking saffron supplements or extracts in medicinal quantities.

Large doses generally: taking saffron in amounts well beyond what’s used in cooking has been linked in some reports to appetite changes, headache, and kidney irritation. These findings come from high-dose or overdose cases, not from the pinch of saffron used in a normal recipe.

Saffron should be stored in a sealed glass container away from light, since exposure to light causes its aroma and color to fade.