A recent rise in coconut oil popularity has led to the launch of numerous new brands, which were using confusing and misleading terminology, said Stiven.
Many products were being labelled with the terms “extra” and “virgin” with no foundation for use, he said. “‘Extra’ in coconut oil terms doesn’t mean anything and there is no foundation for its use.”
Regulated
When used to label olive oil, the word “extra” denotes that a product had been made to a certain standard and by using a specific manufacturing process, he added. However, the term was regulated and only applied to products that had met a certain standard.
“No such standard exists for coconut oil and brands are using it as a marketing gimmick,” claimed Stiven.