Coconut By Products List

Coconut is everywhere. And if you have a coconut allergy, you know that it can be very difficult to find products that don’t have coconut or its derivatives in it. What’s most frustrating is that often times, it’s not always obvious that a product contains coconut. I’ve complied a coconut by products list with common ingredients found in skin, hair, and body care to help you spot the ingredient/s that may be giving you issues.

Just like corn derivatives, coconut derivatives are so commonplace that it can be very difficult to find products that don’t include them. This study on the presence of common food allergens in skincare products found that 75% of the shampoo and body soaps they tested had coconut or its derivatives in them.

Many people don’t think of coconut when referring to nut allergies. However, the FDA recognizes it as a tree nut. And from my own experience, coconut gives me the same allergic reaction as other tree nuts, even though I am not technically allergic to it.

Since it can be difficult to avoid all products made with coconut derivatives. It may help to understand if you are sensitive to the protein in coconut or the chemicals made from coconut. For example, I have a complicated relationship with coconut. I break out into hives and experience GI issues when I use or consume products that have the oil, water, fruit, or husks of a coconut. However, I can use a cleanser with coco-beatine (a fatty acid derived from coconut oil) without any issues. And although I don’t have an allergic reaction to cetyl, cetearyl and stearyl alcohol. I avoid it because it causes major acne and congestion for me.

Since the beauty and wellness industries are not required to tell you what’s in their products. Many hide behind the notion of their products being proprietary. This is just another way of saying we don’t want to tell you what’s in our product. Because of this, it can be difficult to figure out what’s in a product and where those ingredients come from. Ingredient transparency should not be a nice to have. This should be standard. And although some companies are making strides to be more transparent, this should be a requirement, not a selling point.

This by no means is a complete list. And if I have missed something, please let me know in the comments below. My suggestion is to use this coconut by products list as tool in combination with your own research to determine which coconut derivatives may be causing issues for you.

Coconut By Products List