Saffron Quality

Attention all saffron lovers and saffron buyers out there, unfortunately not all saffron spice producers are scrupulous. Some dishonest practice does indeed occur and one must be wary about a small percentage of producers make their saffron spices using only half genuine stigmas and filling up the other half with the useless yellow style threads from the crocus that they then dye red to give the look of proper high grade saffron spice.

If you encounter saffron at a price that seems ridiculously low and the product seems to be all red and looking like top quality, then the chances are that you are dealing with inferior saffron that has most likely been tampered with.

All is not doom and gloom however as thankfully there is an industry standard for saffron quality and saffron carrying the prestigious ISO certification will all be of a high quality. All quality saffron will in fact come with this ISO, not just some of it, so this is of course great news and a relief to us all out here so that we can know that our money is being well spent.

A test of true saffron quality that one can perform easily at home

When fine quality saffron is added to water, the water will gradually become pale yellow in colour. After more time the saffron spice added to the water should turn the liquid a deeper and more vivid color, concluding that the saffron tested is top grade.

If however when you add your saffron to be tested to the water and tthe colour of the water becomes instantly a strong yellow, then this is a strong indication that this saffron has been artificially dyed by a dishonest supplier. The immediate strong yellow colour is in fact just the dye washing off your saffron.

Every good and reputable supplier states the origin of the saffron they sell. In order to judge saffron spice quality one needs to know the area the saffron was grown in, the soil type and the climate of this region

Dishonest saffron producers make their saffron spice with only 50% true saffron crocus stigmas, while making up the other 50% of the volume with useless yellow styles. There’s another method the dishonest producers use which is simply to dye the useless yellow styles red, therefore giving the impression that instead of a mixture of red and yellow threads that you have 100% red threads, making the product look like top grade saffron spice.

If you are offered for sale some quantity of saffron that seems far too good to be true then, generally speaking this is because it is not true!

There is an ISO certification that comes with all quality saffron, so please do not be depressed by the above information about the possible ways that bad producers can deceive the buyer. All the saffron that we supply is of course accompanied by the ISO mark of genuine quality so you can be assured of top quality and value for your money when you buy saffron through us at Saffron Spices.

If you require additional information on saffron varieties then this website has a wealth of information on this and other related topics.