RP coco oil exports face new threat in US market

The Philippines’ coconut oil exports face another threat as US food and health authorities are set to revise in 2006, the recommended American food pyramid that effectively places tropical vegetable oils in the same category as saturated fats from animal fats.

Dr. Bruce Fife, an American certified nutritionist, naturopathic physician and author of the book "The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil" who is currently in Manila to talk on the benefits of using coconut oil as food supplement among others, said in a press briefing that coconut oil producers should mount a counter attack on an escalating smear campaign by American soybean and other oilseed producers exploiting the debate on whether coconut oil is safe and healthy to consume.

"Well-moneyed and connected interest groups for other plant oils, particulalry soybean and corn oil, may be positioning themselves this early to secure a favorable endorsement by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)."

To bolster the smear attack on coconut oil, US-based oilseeed companies lobbied for the USFDA to issue new regulations by Jan. 1, 2006 wherein food nutrition labels require listing of trans-fat directly under the line for saturated fat. The new labeling will reflect scientific evidence showing that consumption of trans-fat, saturated fat and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (otherwise known as bad cholesterol) that increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

Moreover, dietary supplement manufacturers will now need to list trans-fat, as well as saturated fat and cholesterol, on the supplement facts panel when their products contain more than trace amounts of trans-fat.

The new regulation can be traced back to the Federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans which recommended the reduction of intake of trans-fat and saturated fat.

The new regulation defines trans-fat as one that occurs in foods when manufacturers use hydrogenation, a process in which hydrogen is added to vegetable oil in order to turn the oil into more solid fat.

Trans-fat is often but not always found in the same foods as saturated fats such as vegetable shortening, some margarines, crackers, candles, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods, salad dressings and other processed foods.

Last year, 11 US senators commended the USFDA for requiring disclosure on food labels of trans-fat and encourage collaborative work with the industry and the public to encourage consumers to shift to the so-called healthiest trans-fat alternatives such as soybean, canola, corn and sunflower oils.

"This new regulation unfairly lumped together saturated fats from animals and plant oils as belonging to the same class. This despite the fact that the two oil groups are distinct, particularly since all plants oils do not contain cholesterol," said Fife.

He added that coconut oil, while being a saturated plant oil, is composed mainly of readily digestible medium chain triglycerides and should be considered a dietary fat, or that allowed for everyday consumption.

In contrast, three-fourths of soybean oil is hydrogenated, containing up to 50 percent from trans fatty acids, said Fife.

Coconut remains the top agricultural export and of which 70 percent of the annual exports of about $664 million are accounted for by the US market. The leading export products are coconut oil in US and Europe; copra meal in Europe, Korea, and Vietnam, and dessicated coconut and oleochemicals in Asia.

The promising new areas for use of coconut oil include diesel fuel enhancer and virgin coconut oil.