Red gold: The world's most expensive spice

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Carolyn Beans |

TED-Ed

• July 2026

Spices are often far pricier proportionately than the foods they flavor. But one’s cost has long topped them all. Saffron’s red threads regularly run at rates of over 600 USD an ounce. So what is this so-called “red gold,” and what makes it so expensive? Carolyn Beans digs into the unique biology of saffron and humanity's enduring obsession with the spice. [Directed by Sarah Saidan, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by André Aires].