The popularity of coconut oil has skyrocketed in recent years. It seems as though everyone is starting to realize what traditional South Pacific cultures with virtually no heart disease knew for centuries: Â coconut oil is one of the healthiest fats on the planet and is a boon to health when plentiful amounts are present in the diet.
Even Dr. Oz recommends coconut oil. When a TV medical doctor is extolling the virtues of coconut oil, you know it has well and truly gone mainstream!
The problem is that good quality virgin coconut oil is not particularly inexpensive. And with more and more budget conscious families demanding coconut oil, the big box wholesalers like Costco have been faced with a dilemma – how best to capitalize on the coconut oil frenzy while keeping the price dirt cheap.
I’ll admit that I’ve been suspicious of the big box wholesaler brands of coconut oil for quite awhile. The price just didn’t jive with the price I knew to be necessary to ensure a quality, pure product.
It seems that evidence is now emerging that my suspicions have been justified.
Mary M. messaged me on my Facebook page just yesterday complaining about the big jar of Costco coconut oil (picture above).  She writes:
“I just opened and began using a big container of coconut oil (got it at Costco) that I’ve had for maybe 3 months and it has sat on my pantry shelf (outside in my garage, I live in Texas so it’s gotten hotter than 100 degrees).
It smells like burned marshmallows, or maybe the inside of a pumpkin on Halloween. Since I can’t find any web sites that describe the smell (other than “yucky” and “very, very bad”) for rancid coconut oil, could you please help me out? I can’t stand to put it on my face….but can I still cook with it?”
Absolutely not.
You don’t want to ever use, cook with, or put on your skin an oil that smells bad!
Mary’s email about her jar of Costco coconut oil raised two big red flags to me. First of all, I’ve been using coconut oil and virgin coconut oil for many years and I have never had it go off, even when kept for a year or two in my garage where the temperature easily reaches a 110-120F on humid August afternoons.
Coconut oil is an extremely stable oil and should never have gone bad such as what Mary M. experienced, provided it is pure, 100% coconut oil and it was filtered properly so that none of the coconut protein was left in the oil.
The second red flag about this Costco coconut oil was the wording of the label. Â There is no such thing as “extra virgin coconut oil”. Â It is either refined coconut oil or virgin coconut oil. A friend of mine who is the owner of a company that is a quality purveyor of virgin coconut oil had this to say:
“… any product that uses the term ‘extra virgin’ and it does not pertain to olive oil is using the term outside its definition… Trying to market something that does not exist.”
Does this mean use of the misleading term “extra virgin coconut oil” indicates an inferior product? Â Not necessarily. Â It is simply a red flag that further investigation to ensure a quality product is required particularly if the product is found on a shelf at Costco or other large retailer for a price that is too good to be true.
Why Inexpensive Costco Coconut Oil is Likely of Poor Quality
There are a couple of potential reasons why Mary M’s Costco coconut oil went bad.
First of all, it might not have been 100% pure coconut oil at all.
Not pure coconut oil? Not so far fetched. This is what the olive oil industry has been doing for years, blending cheaper oils with extra virgin olive oil and marketing it as pure extra virgin olive oil. Since the majority of the oil is indeed “pure” extra virgin, they get away with labeling it as such even though other cheaper usually rancid oils are present. However, what restaurants do is even worse. Most use “olive oil blends” for cooking that are actually 75% canola oil and only 25% olive oil. If you ask them what they use for cooking, most in my experience will simply respond “olive oil” even when this is not really true.
If Mary M’s Costco coconut oil had vegetable oils or cheaper hydrogenated palm oil blended in, even if organic and in small amounts, it would be prone to going off sitting in a hot pantry for a few months causing the entire jar to stink after awhile.
Another possibility is that the oil was improperly filtered and is inferior quality coconut oil subject to rancidity as a result. Â My friend mentioned earlier who is the owner of a company that sells quality virgin coconut oil had this to say when I asked him about Mary’s coconut oil problem and how it could possibly go rancid:
“The only thing I have seen is during the filtering process. Â If they run it too fast or do not change the filters, one can get pieces of coconut (protein) in the product. Â You will not see it other than with time you might see a slight change in color on the bottom of the container. Â And this product can culture at the bottom of the container and it will have a culture smell.”
Another friend who also owns a company that sells high quality virgin coconut oil had this to add:
“It is possible that it was not 100% Coconut Oil. However, I suspect that it was just very old oil and not fresh. Since there is so much demand for Coconut Oil, fresh lots will be sold for money and may not be available at discount stores.”
Was Mary’s Costco coconut oil cut with a small percentage of cheaper oils to boost manufacturer and/or coconut oil reseller profits, poorly filtered causing the coconut protein bits to “culture” the oil, or just old, manufacturer’s defect oil?
It’s anybody’s guess, but one thing is for sure.  It was not fresh, high quality Grade A coconut oil. Good quality, pure coconut oil that has been properly filtered does not go bad in a hot 100F pantry even if in a plastic tub.  Cheaply priced coconut oil at a discount store runs the risk of being old, improperly filtered (manufacturer’s defect) and not the best choice for your health.
Is it a high risk? Â Maybe, maybe not. Â There’s certainly not enough data to confirm one way or the other at this point. As for me, I’m personally not willing to trust a huge corporation to properly source my healthy fats – the fats that build my children’s brain and support their immune function.
The lesson to be learned from Mary’s experience from my perspective is that you get what you pay for whether it be coconut oil or any other food item. Buying coconut oil at Costco, Walmart or some other big box retailer that bases stocking decisions primarily on low price obtained via buying huge quantities at once is a big risk that what you get is going to be poor quality coconut oil that is either potentially blended with cheap oils or is a Grade B, poorly filtered product. Cheap oil that is subject to rancidity and loaded with free radicals risks your health.
It may look and smell fine when you open the jar, but the real test is does it stay looking and smelling fine in a hot pantry or garage after several months?
You can’t tell just by looking at it or tasting it that is 100% virgin coconut oil that has been properly filtered.
Just like with extra virgin olive oil, the only way to ensure a quality product is to buy from a quality small business, not a big box retailer like Costco that buys large amounts of inventory from manufacturers and dumps it on the consumer market at ultra cheap prices. Â While you may get a decent product for a cheap price some of the time, I personally am not willing to take the chance with my healthy fats – the most critical aspect of Traditional Diet – that it will be a quality purchase 100% of the time like what would happen if I bought from a small, trusted producer.
Anything can happen and frequently does as a food item makes its way through the Industrial Food Distribution System!
UPDATE: Since this article was published in June 2013, dozens of other consumers have emailed me with stories of rock bottom priced, poor quality coconut oil being purchased not just at Costco, but other Big Box retailers. Â Buyer beware!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
More Information
Coconut Oil May Not Be Right for You
MCT Oil: The Coconut Oil Dregs
I questioned this article when I first read it especially the fact that it was based on one persons experience. I have gotten a lot of good info from your site and it disappoints me that you did not research this before you made the post. I know we need to question the products we purchase and how they are processed. Everyone is trying to make a dollar and the organic market is not exception. I hope you will research this further and do a follow up to this article.
Sadly, I can’t quite say I trust this blog or any blog to tell me what kind of quality a product has. I want the truth about our food and its sources as much as anyone here, but there’s also a line in which the presentation of the information borders on alarmist – my opinion is that this one is a bit past that line. I’m always appreciative of information and people’s views, but I also think that we whole-food people can come off as the most judgmental, cynical, snarky people on the planet if one person has a view that is different from our own. If your family can’t reasonably get products from anywhere but a place like costco and you’ve done the research about the product — you’re not wrong, unsafe, or “risky” for doing it. You’re not making reckless choices to intentionally hurt your loved ones. Don’t let a blog post make you feel like you are.
My DIL buys her Coconut oil in the big containers at Costco and she is very happy with it …they are really Paleo Purist and rarely color outside the Paleo lines and she buys organic and I believe the author and everyone else is entitled to their own opinion as to what goes on in their diets….I buy Nutiva because that is the best that is available to me and until something else comes along I have to use it…lets play nice and all make our own decisions…There are two of us in my family and it would take me a year to use a huge container of oil…RG
Why should Mary feel afraid to chime in? She just described her coconut oil experience and didn’t make any recommendations as to where to shop or what brands to buy.
I am so glad for this post! I will switch to buying to Costco coconut oil from now on. I looked at one of the recommended sources and they have a no return policy based on taste – if I happen to get a rancid batch, I wouldn’t be able to return it. Or it would be a big hassle and I don’t have time for this! I couldn’t even find a customer service email, just a form to fill out for a catalog. I know I will not have that problem at Costco, and I’m really looking forward to reading about other things to buy there.
I like alot of what you have to say Sarah, but this post is just over the top. It appears that you have more of a vendetta with large business and that is why you are bashing Costco. You have absolutely NO PROOF that their product is subpar. It is your opinion that small business is better, and that is why you suspect their quality, but honestly your post has just made me go out tomorrow and buy Carrington Farms coconut oil. I have never had issues and frankly I take issue with people who think that expensive is “better.” I even got 5 more friends to buy it from Costco and makes me even less want to buy super over-priced expensive coconut from uppity small businesses who think I should do them a favor and support them. Well lower your prices and maybe well talk. We all work hard for our money and pushing Radiant Life or Tropical traditions without evidence is is just wrong. You have really struck a raw nerve with your slander…
Yes, there is proof .. the proof is that the coconut oil went bad. Coconut oil does not go bad like that even in a very hot pantry in a plastic container unless it is low quality or manufacturer’s defect (as in poorly filtered or the other potential reasons listed in this post). Slander is making false statements that damage a person’s reputation .. this story is not made up. The coconut oil went bad (also happened for others, not just one person) and I asked some credible authorities on what the likely reasons might be and posted it.
Is Carrington perhaps stretched by the high inventory demands from Costco that it has let its quality slip? Perhaps so. Something obviously went wrong. What exactly, we don’t know. We only know that some folks are getting bad coconut oil from Costco. You can decide for yourself how you wish to act upon this information.
Actually, I was just wondering where “Mary” is in all this conversation. As someone else mentioned, we don’t know enough about the circumstances around her “bad” coconut oil to accept her story as proof that Carrington’s is bad coconut oil. Had it already been opened and some foreign matter or other food particles been introduced to it to make it go off? Even oils that do go rancid don’t smell like burnt marshmallows or halloween pumpkin, they just smell like rancid oil. Um, people eat burnt marshmallows all the time (marshmallows on a stick held a little too long over the campfire – yum!) and I’ve never noticed that smell being an unpleasant one. And I don’t know that I’ve ever smelled a halloween pumpkin, but I can’t imagine how that would smell bad unless it had been sitting out for way too long and had spoiled. Now spoiled pumpkin is another matter! 🙂 It’s just that the description of the odor of the oil leads me to wonder about the whole story. I can’t imagine rancid coconut oils smelling like those two foods. The smell of rancid oil of any kind is difficult to describe, but I would never think to call it burnt marshmallows or halloween pumpkin. I think we all have questions that we would love to ask Mary. I guess the bottom line is that until I actually experience the same thing with my own oil, I will continue to use Carrington Farms’. I am grateful for the availability of this coconut oil at such a reasonable price because it it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be able to afford any at all on my tiny retirement pension. And yes, I do know how to stretch my budget to get the most out of my dollars, I’ve lived at or below poverty level for most of my life. And yes, my home gets quite warm in the summer with no a/c in our house (albeit not 100 degrees) and I’ve never ever had problems with the oil. I keep some of it in a small container in my purse because I don’t want to be without it anywhere I go. My fingers go into it for application to my skin. It gets melted, and I’m sure my fingers are not always as meticulously clean as they could be, and yet even that oil doesn’t ever spoil. I don’t know, this whole thing just seems too preposterous to me.
Yoohoo, Mary? Are you out there? Please step in and chat with us!
Given the tone of many of these comments, I understand why Mary hasn’t chimed in!
Mary is not under attack! I haven’t seen a single comment here (and I have read every one) that sounded like anyone was attacking Mary. All she did was share an experience she had with you; she had no idea you’d share it with us and that all this would result. However, if I were Mary and I had a freshly opened jar of coconut oil that was spoiled, I would have been contacting Costco and/or Carrington Farms to investigate. Not that she didn’t do that, but we don’t know, do we? But if it had been opened and used, then stored wherever, no matter the temperature, I would wonder if I had done something to it to cause that, since I’ve never opened a bad jar of it. But we don’t know the details, do we? So how can we pass judgment on a product based on a story with so few details, just because it was purchased in a large store? Would that same judgment be applied to the same product purchased online at CF’s higher price? I understand where you are coming from, Sarah, it’s just that you have really made some sweeping comments based on too little information, okay, also based on your opinion of big box stores’ products. I’m assuming that the information you passed on to us is all that you know, or you would surely have pulled more out of the bag by now. The tone of these comments has nothing to do with Mary and I’m sure Mary would realize that. If she has seen this post she will surely realize that there is something that has not been told yet and will clue us in. I guarantee that no one here is going to “attack” her. She may be embarrassed about how far her short story has gone and to hear so much in defense of that oil. And apparently she also shops at Costco, and appreciates a good bargain there. Right now we can only speculate about the details of the story. Sigh . . .
If I were Mary and saw the attacking comments made toward the author of this article (me), I certainly would not chime in for fear that I would be next! If you feel my comments are over the top, feel free to ignore them. That doesn’t mean I will change my conclusions on the subject however. I will have more to say about big box retailers and how they have played a big role in destroying our food system in upcoming posts. It’s not just Big Food that is to blame.
Hi Sarah,
Just one last note to you and that will be all: I have never meant to make you feel attacked. It is my understanding that when a blogger writes an article and gives readers the option to comment on said article, you are left wide open for comments that may or may not agree with your stance. I truly don’t believe anyone was attacking you or Mary or anyone else. I am so sorry that you see it that way. Seems to me the only attackee has been Costco and whatever products Costco sells. And yes, you do have the right to your own opinion on that. And we have made known our right to object, especially when a product is being railed against simply because it was sold in a particular store. That is the beef here, nothing else. No attacks. Just people standing up for what they feel is good and right. I for one have read many of your articles and appreciated the information you made available to us. And I’ll continue to do so. We all make choices daily and will ultimately reap the consequences of those choices. And we will live with that. Thank you for sharing your opinions and valuable information. The end 🙂
I appreciate your comment Naomi. All the best to you.
Sarah, you say you had two red flags: oil going bad in a hot environment and using the term “extra virgin” for coconut oil. To me, its a “red flag” that someone was keeping their oil in a hot environment! My coconut oil, as a vital healthy fat, is guarded and protected; therefore, I store it as directed. As far as your second red flag, since the US has such poor labeling laws, why is it a red flag? I’ve known for some time that “extra virgin” doesn’t exist for coconut oil, yet most of the top brands label them as such. What really matters is what goes in the product; that being said, Carrington Farms is a good quality product that people can trust. You slandered a product without any apparent research, experience, etc., and made untrue claims about Costco as well. In these comments, people have pointed out your inconsistencies, lack of research, and your apparent bias towards your friends/affiliates coconut oil, yet you have not made any changes, retractions, editing, etc.; now you claim its just your “opinion” in the comments section which a lot of people will never get to. Most of your readers look to you as an expert and they want to hear your advice, but you really missed the mark with this one. Please change your writing style and wording to better communicate that this is only your “opinion”. Personally, I’m very disappointed in this post. You’ve lost a good bit of credibility in my eyes.
Sorry you feel that way Linda. I’ve stored quality coconut oil in my 115F garage for years and it has never gone bad provided I bought it from a reputable small company that didn’t supply large amounts of inventory at a cut rate price to a retailer like Costco.
Coconut oil when properly filtered is a very stable oil and can easily withstand a hot pantry or garage (this is why it is safe to cook with!).. if it goes off, it is poor quality and something has obviously gone wrong in the manufacturing process. That’s great that Costco will take it back and replace it easily, but what about the folks who don’t know to take it back and use it to the detriment of their health?
This post is clearly a “heads up” and “this is my take” type of post. If you read the post in its entirety, you will see the language indicates such. I stand by my conclusions. I don’t buy my healthy fats at places like Costco.
Oh, I would also recommend the book Foodopoly which describes how the big retailers like WalMart and Costco have helped to destroy the food system in the US. A shocking read and you may find that you agree with me and avoid shopping at places like this after reading it.