The American packaging of Aroy D coconut milk says "coconut milk 100%" which makes you think it is additive free. But it is false, Aroy D coconut milk contains E435 additive!! It is not AIP compliant and anyone with an autoimmune condition or a leaky gut should stay away from it!
I have seen Aroy D coconut milk being praised and recommended multiple times on paleo or AIP websites. Please note that I am not accusing those websites, they have been fooled like anyone else.
A few months ago, out of curiosity I wanted to try this specific brand's coconut milk as it has great reviews. So I first went online to check it out.
As you may know, I'm a French food blogger who blogs both in French and English and a large part of my readers are American. So I'm always navigating between American websites and French websites.
Finding out something was odd with the ingredients
When I first checked Aroy D coconut milk on an American online grocery store the first thing that caught my attention was the ingredient listed on the package: "100 % coconut milk".
Well, I thought that was odd. For me "coconut milk" is not a primary ingredient. Coconut milk is the result of coconut and water. So in my opinion you should see on all coconut milk packages at least two ingredients (which percentages vary from one brand to another): coconut and water.
Growing up with a father who is an ingredient expert, I've been raised to read all labels very carefully. He has also taught me to read between the lines, looking for cheats. He raised me to be aware of the incredible amount of fraud in the food industry all over the world.
After checking the Aroy D coconut milk on the American online grocery store I went on a French one. And I discovered that the ingredients for Aroy D coconut milk are not the same. It clearly says: coconut extract (70%), water, emulsifier (E435).
Then I went on a British online grocery store and checked Aroy D coconut milk. It had the same ingredients as in France. And for the UK version it looks like the ingredients are not on a sticker but directly on the carton.
And if you look at this European packaging, it's translated in German and Polish also with emulsifier (E435).
First, I think the ingredient list "100% coconut milk" doesn't make sense. Then I find out that Aroy D seem to have a different recipe only for the US. That's weird.
So I needed to get to the bottom of this.
Confirming my suspicion
I had this at the back of my mind for several months but didn't know how to prove my suspicion. Until last night when the penny finally dropped.
As I was searching for coconut milk for a new recipe I'm working on I came across one of Aroy D coconut milk carton online.
And I saw on the picture that the French ingredient list was a sticker stuck on the carton that seemed to be the carton made for the American market.
Only thing I had to do was go to my local Asian grocery store in Paris and buy a pack of Aroy D coconut milk and see for myself if what I was suspecting was true.
And here is a video of the result, so you can see for yourself.
Video
Aroy D coconut milk contains E435
As you can see on this video, I removed the sticker that had the ingredients written in French on it. It clearly says: extrait de noix de coco (70%), eau, émulsifiant (E435). Which is French for: coconut extract (70%), water, emulsifier (E435).
Underneath this sticker was hidden the American version of the ingredient list: "100% coconut milk". Which makes you think that it has no additives but it is false!
Dear American readers, this coconut milk contains E435 and you are not told about that!!
E435, also known as Polysorbate 60, is used in foods as a stabilizer and emulsifier.
According to the French Federal Union of Consumers (UFC Que choisir) E435 has been pointed by some researches as a potential worsener of leaky gut. It may also contribute to gut dysbiosis and auto immune response.
So, I would recommend staying away from it if you have an autoimmune condition or any gut issues. And if you are following the autoimmune protocol (AIP), as you might have guessed, in reality this coconut milk is not AIP compliant.
I agree with Vani Hari from the blog foodbabe.com, nobody is watching out for you guys! (By the way I highly recommend reading her article Food in America compared to the U.K. (Why is it so different?))
How to try to avoid getting fooled by ingredient lists
First of all, ask yourself if the ingredient list makes sense. Like in this case "coconut milk 100%" when it should be at the very least "coconut and water".
Then, when in doubt, you can explore how the same product is labeled all over the world. Thanks to the internet and online stores it's pretty easy to do that. Even if I don't speak German nor Polish, I can figure out what it says. Before confirming my suspicions with the product itself, I first checked by going online and saw that things were odd.
And of course, you can also contact the brand to ask. The question will then be "can you trust the answer?"...
And if you have any doubts (for example if the texture looks "too good to be true"): don't eat the product.
Please share this post with all of your family members and friends. Everyone should know what they are eating.
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Diedra Donivan
I became alarmed when I first read your article as I have been using Aroy-D for four years. However, on a second look, I found that you are talking about the carton and not the canned. There is no sticker on the cans, so no undisclosed ingredients and as noted below, water is not needed to make coconut milk when it is made from ripe coconuts.
Bea C.
Indeed I am not talking about the canned Aroy-D coconut milk in this article. But I disagree with the statement that has been made in some comments saying that they don't need water to make coconut milk. So let me put it this way: if they don't need to use water, why the heck do they list "coconut, water and polysorbate 60" on their full ingredient list on the European market? And how do you explain that all the other brands list the following ingredients for their coconut milk 60%-70% coconut + 30%-40% water, whereas for coconut cream, it's usually something like 90% coconut + 10 % water?
Joseph
We (in the US) have been using Aroy-D coconut milk, though we buy the "organic" version. This ingredient label says, "Organic coconut milk 99.77%, Organic guar gum, Xanthan gum" (both natural emulsifiers used instead of the E435, aka polysorbate 60).
Based on your view, and the French & UK labels, this "coconut milk" should consist of organic coconut extract and water. So this US organic version label is also misleading, leaving out the water component, and likely being the same 70% coconut extract and ~30% water, not 99.77% coconut, as we had believed.
Panos
I live in Thailand and just came across your article and read the ingredients on the carton. It states 100% coconut milk with no preservatives. Not the 70% milk etc you described.
You also said coconut milk needs water, it doesn't. It is derived from the ripe hard shelled coconut and not the baby green coconut. The meat of the ripe coconut is then pressed and the coconut milk is extracted, no water needed. That's what I believe this Thai brand here sells.
Bea C.
Hi. I think you have misunderstood my point and what the brand used to do on their US packaging: since my article and probably because of it, and also because I sent it to the FDA, the ingredient list on the US market has magically changed stating that it does contain Polysorbate 60 (E435) as we already knew in Europe. This brand would list all the ingredients on their European carton whereas they wouldn't do it on the US carton, because they know Europe has harsher regulations than the US. I also knew that a lot of people were buying this coconut milk because it was supposedly additive free when it wasn't. And on top of this, that the additive (E435) they didn't know was in this product had been pointed by some researches as a potential worsener of leaky gut and it may also contribute to gut dysbiosis and auto immune response. And who are my readers? People with gut dysbiosis and auto-immune diseases (like me)!! I was, and still am, watching out for them and any other people who can't consume E435. Whether or not you need water to make coconut milk is really not the point here. The point is, we have an equal right to know what we are eating!
Panos
I agree with you 100% that every ingredient should be listed as I too have been researching it for so long. I had 3 major bowel surgeries in 2001 in a space of one month where most of my small bowel was removed from Chroh's disease. I also have suffered a lot since then.
I started researching many health topics and other so called conspiracy "theories" which somehow mostly eventuate and have come to the conclusion that evil is in charge of this worldly realm.
The people running the world from behind the curtain aren't Governments but the cabal. That's why everything is backwards in this world.
When you realise that privately owned banks create money out of nothing and loan it out at interest, meaning all modern money is literally debt owed to them thus they control the game and the reason for all this evil.
Peter Dunseith
I know your principal concern about Aroy coconut milk is that it is not AIP compliant, but it should also be noted for your vegetarian and vegan readers that Polysorbate 60 can be derived from either an animal or a vegetable source and another blog poster says that Aroy refuses to certify their coconut milk as vegetarian - so draw your own conclusion.
Suzi
Aroy D has an organic version I’ve purchased on Amazon which should not contain any additives.
If you haven’t already I was hoping you’d do a post about the difference between European and American bread, especially the ban on the bleaching process and the use of potassium bromate. Thanks!
Suzi
Hi, I was also concerned about this ingredient and that’s how I found your post. I suspect that originally the product was without this and it had to be added because of problems. As my husband worked many years with the packaging company, I can tell you that it would not be inexpensive to change the packaging. Still not an excuse, and hence, the sticker! I say this because there is an organic version I’ve used many times, but occasionally there is difficulty getting the product out after separation/hardening at the bottom due to weather and maybe pressure changes. In that case, the whole purchase is damaged. Still the richest and best tasting brand I’ve found.
Mindy
Wow. Thank you for this! I have two autoimmune conditions and I have been using Aroy-D brand coconut milk for years, blissfully unaware of this Issue. Can you please tell us which coconut milks are safe?
Oralia
Yes, for years now I have been using Savoy and I prefer it over Aroy-D, however, just a few weeks ago I noticed that it has Polysorbate 60 which is the same ingredient you mention here.
I sense they just had the integrity to add it to the label recently and I hate that. Yet, WHAT else can I use since ALL the other coconut milks have even more additives which make them clump when cooking?
Also Trader Joe's has both milk and cream and I just tried the cream thinking it would be the same thing -- it isn't, it was separated when I opened the can and it was horrible tasting! Too coconuty! Which is odd b/c I LOVE coconut.
So I suspect that their formula is clean. My question is WHAT else can we use that IS clean and tastes fairly good?
I definitely CANNOT use dairy!
Clyde
To make a coconut based yogurt Aroy-d was on my list. What is a safe coconut substitue to aroy-d?
Thank you,
Clyde