Coconut oil with butter flavor

[CaseyD]

I noticed at Whole Foods today Nutiva has a "Coconut Oil with Butter Flavor" and I really don't know what to think of the ingredients. They are: organic coconut oil, organic vegan buttery flavor, and organic red palm oil. Nowhere on the package can I find an explanation of the buttery flavor, and it doesn't say anything about soy being in it. I have no idea what that ingredient is. Can anyone shed light on what this could be and if it is o.k?

[ShannonM816]

They never really say exactly what's in it. They say this:  

Nutiva’s buttery flavor is derived from pure non-GMO certified organic, fermented, gluten-free plants including sunflower, coconut, and mint.

 

 

But that word "including" bothers me -- that means there's other stuff too.

 

I'd skip it for Whole30. You could try emailing them and asking for more specifics, but you could just as easily live without it for 30 days. I think if there were soy there'd have to be an allergen warning for the US, but I'm not sure they'd have to list if there were MSG in it, which would definitely make it not okay.

 

[praxisproject]

It's made with refined coconut oil, which is not as nutritious as virgin coconut oil and the unrefined palm oil is only added for colour.

 

This company is claiming a "proprietary formula" for the "buttery" ingredient, so won't specify all the details and has an extensive allergen disclosure (for same facility) which would knock it off my shopping list permanently (including milk and gluten, although it's a vegan and gluten free product): http://www.glutenfreegigi.com/ingredients-inside-nutiva-organic-vegan-buttery-spread/ I find it very suspicious that their own website doesn't provide more information on allergens, but they will provide if contacted directly, that's a red flag for me on trust.

 

This ingredient label would likely not be legal in Australia as we have much tougher laws on gluten free and dairy allergen warnings and we don't allow secret ingredients. "Gluten free plants" is far too inclusive for me to trust it would be compliant (this could include grains).

 

If you're not a vegan, ghee is probably a lot nicer If you are a vegan I think virgin coconut oil would be nicer too

[kirkor]

"Buttery" lol ... like that "chocolatey" you sometimes see on off-brand stuff.

[Mercy]

Yeah, when they kind of dance around what is actually in anything, I just assume it's not good for you or has something that more than likely isn't Whole30 compliant...I figure just scratch it off the list.