Organic Virgin Coconut Oil: Just Make Sure It’s Virgin AND Organic, Okay
Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (OVCO) is the coconut oil, in my opinion. Your health is in best hands if your coconut oil is both virgin and organic. It doesn’t get any better than this.
Many who know their coconut oil consider OVCO as the finest there is. It is chemical- or additive-free and comes from fresh coconuts. It has that mildly sweet fresh coconut aroma and flavor they’re looking for. But is it really organic?
You see, organic farming takes into serious account minimum dependence on unnatural or man-made activities, and absolute independence from needless synthetic chemical inputs.
The thing is, I’ve seen OVCO brands that are water white in color and have the distinct coconut smell and taste mentioned above. You know, the classic physical attributes of organic virgin coconut oil. But there’s just one problem. I know full well that these products are not organic.
How do I know? Well, because I know of one manufacturer that uses dried coconut meat or copra as raw material and then passes on their product as organic and virgin. Their web site even showcases how much dehydrated coconut kernel they can produce.
I should say this though. No offense to the copra industry. Millions of my Filipino brothers depend on this versatile product so I have no intention of degrading or maligning it. Copra has its valuable uses, no doubt about that. I’m merely putting things in their proper places, that’s all.
This manufacturer and I’m pretty certain, others, have found a way to process dried coconut meat that would result to a product with physical characteristics very similar to OVCO. They can hide this deception from a complete coconut oil newbie, but not from someone who truly knows his or her coconut oil.
Let no one make a fool of you. Understand that drying, especially sun-drying, introduces mold and contaminants. The oil extracted from these contaminated sources has to undergo a refining procedure in order to be safe for human consumption. That’s a fact.
To refine often means using chemicals and/or heating at very high temperatures, say 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Is that still organic?
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