Strengthening of local VCO image needed
By Charles E. Buban
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:54:00 11/07/2008
Filed Under: Lifestyle & Leisure, Health
THE continuing demand for virgin coconut oil has given a once near-stale coconut industry something to hope for.
As the foremost supplier of VCO for use as a diet supplement (aside from topical lotions, beauty products and massage oils), the Philippine authorities must support and protect the businesses that have been instrumental in keeping the industry alive, suggested one surgeon who set up a company in 2004 that pioneered the encapsulation of VCO.
As a leading supplier of VCO in the world market, the Philippines’ VCO exports had jumped from 1.80 metric tons (MT) in 2001 to 475 MT in 2005, an equivalent $1.6 million (P78 million) worth of exports.
The country’s potential VCO export is huge as worldwide demand for VCO is now worth $1.9 billion (P92 billion).
“The late Dr. Conrado Dayrit, past president of the National Academy of Science and Technology and author of the book “The Truth about Coconut Oil,” identified our VCO as the best oil, an assertion that is backed by American nutritionist Bruce Fife who also said our coconut oil is the healthiest dietary oil on earth,” said Ed Lalusis, medical director and CEO of Growrich Manufacturing Inc.
Important part
Lalusis related that from the research of Dayrit and Fife, they found that VCO plays an important part in protecting one from heart disease, cancer and other degenerative conditions.
“They also found that VCO may improve digestion, strengthen immune system, protect from infectious illnesses, and even help in losing excess weight,” he said.
Because of VCO’s huge potential benefits, Lalusis said his company is careful in keeping the quality of their products.
“Growrich was the first to come up with a VCO in capsule form that was approved by and registered with the Bureau of Food and Drugs for their process encapsulating virgin coconut oil and still retaining its health benefits from among the many attempts of other manufacturers to come out with virgin coconut oil in capsule or tablet form,” said his wife, Purisima, one of the country’s foremost chemists who found a way to encapsulate VCO while retaining its potency.
Improvement
“In capsule form, the VCO may freeze or harden, especially in colder climates. But once taken in, the body’s natural heat will again turn it into liquid form where it will be broken down and absorbed and processed by the body. The capsule, indeed, is a huge improvement from the bottled one since dosage is more controlled, quality is maintained, not to mention that it minimizes the after taste that a number of consumers complain about when taking the liquid VCO,” Purisima said.
Growrich again clarified reports coming out against its product which falsely claims that consumers have to take it in large quantities a day to get the health benefits one would if they drank VCO in liquid form.
“One only has to take at least two capsules a day. Our capsule’s potency and concentration is different from the liquid form of other brands. Besides if our encapsulation process has been shown to be defective, the BFAD would not have issued us approval and certificate of public registration,” he clarified.
At the moment, Lalusis shared that the country is looking at adopting a method of analyzing VCO similar to that of olive oil in order that it could be acknowledged worldwide as a premium oil.
“It is important for us manufacturers of VCO to maintain quality standards in our VCO production, including the strict implementation of good manufacturing practice so that we would be able to conform with the local and international product standards for VCO,” he said.
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