Does It Matter If Spices Are Organic?

As with most strong tasting foods, spices are rich in antioxidants, terpenes, and beneficial nutrients. Ayurvedic medicine even uses spices as treatments, because a lot of them are anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, or have other healing properties.* Are all spices created equal? The answer as a chef and food researcher is a resounding NO. My goal is to eat close to nature as possible. Organic spices avoid toxins and have optimal flavor and nutrition.

Organic Spices Are Not Irradiated.

We never really hear about foods being irradiated to be sterilized, but it is common practice in the spice industry. Microorganisms like mold and bacteria can thrive in the conditions that some spices are harvested in. To sterilize them they are either irradiated, sprayed with a toxic substance called ethylene oxide, or steam pasteurized. Organic spices are only allowed to be steam pasteurized. While the FDA claims that irradiation is safe and doesn’t greatly effect nutritional value, there are a lot of studies to the contrary. Not only does it seem to reduce the beneficial healing compounds in foods, carcinogenic compounds are also created in the irradiation process.

Organic Spices Don’t Contain Added Fillers.

Organic spices cannot have genetically engineered ingredients (GMOs), artificial colors, preservatives, and other synthetic anti-caking agents. You should always read the label before eating anything, including spices. I’ve noticed that a few brands (even higher-end Frontier) add anti caking agents like Silicone Dioxide to nonorganic versions of their spices, but not organic ones. MSG and other chemical “flavorings” are also common in spice blends like Cajun seasoning, Chili powder, Steak seasoning, Taco seasoning, Garam masala, Lemon pepper and basically anything else with more than one ingredient.

Not only will you avoid additives by choosing organic spices, but they’re usually packaged in glass containers, so you’ll also avoid BPAs and other microplastic contaminants.

Organic Spices Taste Better!

This is my opinion of course- when I switched to organic spices I noticed that the flavors and colors tend to be more pronounced. Organic plants are raised in richer environments that pass more nutrients to the plant. This results in more flavor on to the end product. Paprika was almost a throw away spice to me before. When I tasted a higher quality one for the first time, I finally understood the smoky mild peppery flavor. I definitely use less spices than before because the flavor is so much stronger. When I was in culinary school, one of my French chefs told us to never use ground spices, because they were just dust and who knows what else from some factory. After trying organic spices, I do kind of wonder why some of the cheap ones are so flavorless lol

Some Recommendations:

In a dream world I would grow my own spices and grind them as needed. That would be the healthiest and most delicious option, but most of us have other things to do. Here are a couple of brands I like. Let me know in the comments if you have any favorite herb or spice sites I should check out!

Mountain Rose Herbs “is firmly against the use of the treatment methods irradiation, X-Ray, ozone, Ethylene Oxide, and in many cases steam sterilization. In the rare event that we must treat materials, it is our policy to strictly use a low heat steam method”. I really like this companies’ openness about their policies and that they don’t default to pasteurizing everything. They don’t exploit their sources, they test their products, and you can buy in bulk. It’s rare to see clean spice blends, so this site is a good find for that!

Frontier Co-op (which also makes Simply Organic and Whole Foods 365 spices) is my go-to grocery store spice. They do not carry irradiated products of any kind and their spices are not treated with ethylene oxide. I stick to their organic spices, because the nonorganic ones sometimes have fillers in them.