Change in US dietary guidelines to boost demand for coconut oil

MANILA, Philippines — Coconut oil exporters are upbeat that demand for the prized commodity in the US will increase after Washington revised its dietary health guidelines, promoting the consumption of healthy fats.

United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP) said the latest 2025-2030 US Dietary Guidelines reflects a “symbolic” shift in Americans’ diet as it represents an “inverted” food pyramid, putting fats at the top.

Prior to the change, saturated fats, including coconut oil, have been demonized based on the prevailing Lipid Heart Theory claiming that saturated fats and cholesterol are the root causes of heart disease, said UCAP chairman Marco Reyes.

He pointed out that previous dietary guidelines, particularly the 2020-2025 edition, had explicit warnings on the consumption of fats, including coconut oil and recommended consumers to shift to vegetable oil instead.

But in the latest guidelines, such an explicit warning has been removed with the only discouraging factor to coconut oil remaining is the limit stated on the consumption of saturated fat, Reyes said.

The latest dietary guidelines emphasized that saturated fat consumption must not exceed 10 percent of total daily calories. Furthermore, consumers are advised to eat healthy fats which it noted are plenty in whole foods like meats, eggs, among others.

However, coconut oil is not categorically stated as part of the healthy fats. Despite this, Reyes noted that demand for the commodity will still increase since there are no more explicit warnings against coconut oil.

“These new US Dietary Guidelines, albeit not explicitly mentioning coconut oil as a healthy fat, will increase the demand in the consumption in the US for coconut-based products: coconut oil, desiccated coconut, and coconut milk/cream,” Reyes told The STAR.

“The US Food and Drug Administration’s official removal of the coconut as an allergen, as well as the maintained zero import duty for coconuts in the US, will further boost this demand,” Reyes added.

UCAP commended the government for its unwavering commitment to refute the Lipid Heart Theory and defending that coconut oil is beneficial to human health. Industry players and experts have noted that the explicit warnings in the US dietary guidelines against coconut oil have dampened demand for the commodity in the past decades.

Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. president Danilo Fausto said the change in American dietary guidelines is a “good news” that may influence dietary consumption in other countries and boost coconut oil demand further.

“People are realizing that coconut oil is not harmful and these changes in dietary guidelines will further boost the demand. This only means that we must beef up our production starting with the replacement of senile coconut trees,” Fausto told The STAR.

Reyes added that the challenge for the local coconut industry is meeting the growing demand globally, emphasizing that domestic production has been “stagnating” with “no real growth” in recent years.

“We hope that the Philippine Coconut Authority’s target for 100 million coconut trees planted by 2028 will be achieved,” he said.