Coconut oil the best for cooking purposes, says ICC

by Gamini Warushamana

The Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (ICC) last week cleared coconut from baseless charges that it was harmful to health and causes heart disease. The ICC said that for all practical purposes no vegetable oil including coconut oil, contains cholesterol. There is no direct relationship between high cholesterol levels and coconut consumption.

The ICC came to this conclusion after a panel discussion of experts based their findings on wide scientific research.

Today in Sri Lanka the average coconut consumption is around 100 nuts per year per person or 1/3-1/4 nuts per day per person and it is unlikely that coconut will have a major impact on blood cholesterol levels, the ICC said.

In the 1970's per capita annual coconut consumption was as high as 225 nuts and even at such a rate of consumption incidents of heart diseases were rare. "We have been using coconut in our diet for over 1,000 years", experts in the panel said.

Epidemiological studies have not revealed that coconut oil increases blood cholesterol levels.

However, it is known that in addition to the diet, lifestyle, genetic and environment factors contribute to a high cholesterol level. Lifestyle is an overriding factor in the onset of degenerative diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. Genetic factors also play a role. The effect of coconut should be interpreted in this context, the ICC said.

According to WHO recommendations the fat intake for a healthy active person should consist of a certain proportion of Monosaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA) and Polysaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA) and saturated fats.

Between 20%-30% of energy could be derived from fats where 8%-10% is from saturated fats and 14%-15% from Monosaturated Fatty Acid and the balance from Polysaturated Fatty Acid.

Coconut oil is the safest cooking oil because coconut oil is stable as it has a low degree of unsaturation. Coconut oil also has a high boiling point and it can be reused 2-3 times for repeated frying, because trans Fatty Acids cannot be formed in coconut oil during repeated frying.

Trans Fatty Acids have an adverse health impact because it reduces HDL (High-density Lipoproteins) level in the body. HDL can remove cholesterol from arteries. All other vegetable oils such as soya oil form Trans Fatty Acids therefore are not suitable for use more than once in frying.

On the other hand when coconut oil is used the amount of oil absorbed into the food is less compared to unsaturated oils. Polyunsaturated Fats should not be recommended for frying.

It is mandatory to declare the trans fat content of margarine on the pack. Under the new labelling regulations it is mandatory to declare the oil, oil mix and fat content of cooking oil and margarine.

All vegetable oils are cholesterol free and printing that a specific oil is cholesterol free is misleading. Some manufacturers state that their margarine has not been hydrogenated during processing so as to solidify. This is done by using a solid fat matrix.

Trans fat, non trans fat and non coconut fat should be declared on the label of the margarine pack. However, fully hydrogenated margarine has no trans fatty acids and this should be declared on the label.

Some research suggests that coconut could give rise to side effects related to heart disease, by other mechanisms in countries with high coconut consumption such as Sri Lanka. However, the ICC said that this matter should be further investigated before conclusions are drawn.

ICC highlighted many positive factors in coconut. Coconut is rich in luric acid (mono-lurine) which has high a antibacterial and antifungal effect.

Coconut oil blended with other vegetable oil such as palm oil is a food grade. However this should be displayed on the label. In the event of a coconut scarcity in the country blending will reduce coconut oil production and it will benefit value added productions such as desiccated coconut, ICC said.

ICC has also made recommendations for processing and quality control in the coconut industry. As a remedy to prevent adulteration the ICC proposes a recommended standard for coconut oil and advocates that the pre market monitoring approach followed today should be changed to pre-market quality assurance.

Since bulk marketing and packing of coconut oil in drums for food usage has many hazards this practice should be discouraged. Small scale domestic production should be encouraged by institutions such as the Coconut Development Authority and Coconut Research Institute. Bulk marketing of coconut oil should also be improved in the same manner as palm oil.

The process control standard should be stabilised to monitor polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aflotoxin in copra. Preventive action should be taken at ground level and monitoring should be done at an accredited laboratory, ICC said.

A national quality standard should be introduced by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute for products such as canned coconut milk, bottled coconut milk, coconut milk powder, coconut cream and coconut paste.

The nutritional value of these products should be compared to traditional coconut products, ICC said.

The panel of professionals, who studied medical, nutritional and bio-chemical aspects of coconut and coconut oil included. Prof. E. R. Jansz (Chairman), Prof. T. W. Wickramanayake, B. S. P. Mendis, E. G. Somapala, Dr. D. P. Athukorala, Dr. U. P. S. De S. Widyanatha, Dr. Nandani Ediriweera, Kumudu Samarasekara, Dr. Kapila Seneviratne, Dr. Sujatha Hewage, Dr. Lakshimi Arambawela and Prof. Siromi Samarasinghe.

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