The Spanish Saffron Scandal

Finally, what I have been telling the industry, consumers, chefs and the media, has become international news: Spanish saffron packers have been importing saffron from Iran, mixing it, and passing it off as Spanish.

However, there is still one misconception that must be clarified: Iran does not export bad quality saffron, because they are not allowed to. All Iranian saffron exportations are tightly controlled, unlike Spain's.

Keeping this in mind, you can read about this scandal in the following publications, and my response below.

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Made/in/Spain/The/great/saffron/trading/scandal/elpepueng/20110130elpeng_6/Ten

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8293582/Spanish-saffron-scandal-as-industry-accused-of-importing-cheaper-foreign-varieties.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9384000/9384962.stm

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_29012.shtml

Here's the response I posted or e-mailed to the different publications:

"Had you read my “Consumer Guide to Saffron Purchasing” at www.saffron.com you would have been able to ask the right questions to the “Spanish growers” who all they do is misinform and use the media to push their agenda.
*Spanish saffron is no better than saffron grown in other countries; saffron is made into good quality by removing the yellow part and this is no done in Spain. Poor-imports do not come from Iran, Morocco or Greece; the fact is that these countries produce better quality than the saffron produced in Spain and that is because they have better quality controls, which are supervised by third parties in Europe (ISO-3632). What is true is that ALL the cheating, adulteration and misinformation comes out of Spain and nowhere else and newspapers like yours swallow line, hook and sinker from the “Spanish experts”. The fact is that Spain is a small producer, 300 to 900 kg maximum and the biggest cheater in the saffron industry, with full knowledge of the Spanish authorities that look the other way. The fact is that if you want to get good quality saffron your have to go Iran, Greece or Morocco and if you want to be cheated you go to Spain. We took four random samples of Spanish saffron sold in the USA market, low end to high end, sent them to a US, laboratory and all four came back with ARTIFICIAL COLORS ADDED. ASAJA can say all they want but the “rubbish” is “manufactured and exported out of Spain” and it is Spanish. Iranian saffron may cost half the price of Spanish but it has twice the quality of any Spanish as measured by ISO-3632 standards, which the Iranians abide by, and is certified by a third party. NONE of the Spanish ASAJA is. The Regulatory Commission of Origin of La Mancha, has a seal from the EU that says that the saffron is grown in that area of Spain (La Mancha) it has NOTHING to do with the quality of the saffron grown there. Furthermore, The Regulatory Commission of Origin of la Mancha is a “self regulated entity” that answers to no one and while they may follow ISO-3632 they do not summit to third party scrutiny; in other words “the fox is in charge of the chicken house”, end of the story. So in the future, do your research so you can inform your readers or give me a ring so I can give you the scoop. I estimate that 99.99% of the saffron reaching the USA out of Spain has artificial colors added all you have to do is by on line the samples or go to your near Indian store and purchase some Spanish saffron and send it to the lab. *Saffron consist of stigmata which is the red part; you will find the Iranian and Greek saffron is all RED, Sargol “top of the flower” as the Iranians call it or “COUPE” , as it used to be sold by Spain to the French chefs to avoid the cheating. When you cut out the yellow, the red part breathes out the moisture creating TRUE aromatic saffron. In Spain, they sell you the yellow attached to trap the moisture and add more weight, reducing thus the shelf life of the saffron and getting the pungent smell that comes from the trapped moisture, which produces fungi. Another trick is to extract the saffron out and tint the whole stigma and stamen with artificial colors, and yes, that is what they are selling in ALL over the USA, and it’s not the Iranians, Greeks or Moroccans, it is the Spanish exporters. The Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Tourism admitted in his letter to me that there is nothing they can do about the cheating and there are no sanctions of any kind even when caught time and time again.