Cinnamon kills E.coli in apple juice.

Adding cinnamon to unpasteurized apple juice may kill E.coli 0157:H7, the bacteria which causes foodborne illness that affects an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Americans each year, say researchers. Microbiologists at Kansas State University inoculated apple juice samples with about 1 million E.coli

bacteria (roughly 100 times the number typically found in contaminated food) and found that one teaspoon of cinnamon killed 99.5 percent of the bacteria in three days at room temperature. When the same amount of cinnamon was combined with either 0.1 percent sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate, which are preservatives approved by FDA, E.coli was reduced to an undetectable level. "It has natural killing power," the researchers said when presenting their study at the recent annual meeting of the Institute of Food technologists. "We are not promoting that you should not heat your food properly, but this extra help from the kitchen can spice up your health."