The great adulteration that is taking place in the saffron industry, especially in its derivatives, whether extracts or concentrates, by using a plant called Gardenia Jasminoide. Product imported from China. Illegal product for the food industry, since its use is prohibited in Europe, the United States, Canada, etc. But due to the coincidence that both gardenia and saffron have crocin and are analyzed at the same 440nm value by photo-spectrometry, it has been difficult to identify which saffron extracts or concentrates were adulterated and which were not.
This fact may be considered as a crime, and nowadays, with a simple geniposide analysis, for example, at the Microbiological Laboratory in Murcia, or at Cepra Lab in Bologna, such adulteration is immediately detected. Safrante Global Company enforces the counter-analysis of all saffron derivatives, extracts or concentrates.
If the geniposide is detected in the saffron extract or concentrate, we can deduce that it would be an adulterated product and not admitted for consumption by authorities responsible for protecting the public health, since the saffron raw material lacks this compound.
Furthermore, as it is a product that, according to various studies, is identified as harmful to health, so when developing, supplying, distributing, dispatching or marketing adulterated product, it would be committing a crime against “Public Health”, which can be condemned with penalties in prison, business closing down or heavy fines from the authorities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m92S7YXniqA&t=12s (Op. Sativus)
https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20170330/azafran-adulterado-extractos-gardenia-comienza-invadir-mercado-europeo/1513767.shtml (RTVE article)
https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/5585811 (USDA article)
