Does Glycerin / glycerol come from coconut?

Nobody can tell you from the label.This ingredient can be made from coconut, from palm kernel, or from another plant entirely, and the label does not say which. That is why products containing it are marked “can’t be verified” rather than cleared — we don’t fill in the blank, we ask the company and publish what they say.

A by-product of processing any fat or oil, coconut included, or made synthetically. Almost never labelled by source.

Usually palm, soy or rapeseed, and refined well past the point where coconut protein survives. It is named on the product page, but it doesn’t decide the verdict by itself — nearly every cosmetic contains it, and if it did, the whole registry would turn amber and the warning would stop meaning anything.

Also written as: glycerin… · glycerol · glicerina · glicerol

Products we checked that contain it

50 of the 115 products in the registry. Each one read off the packet by a person, with the date.

Contains coconut (21)

Can’t be verified (20)

No coconut listed (9)

What the companies said

Where a company has told us what plant their version comes from, it is on their page, quoted and dated.

Whether this matters for you depends on which kind of coconut allergy you have →

Check a label for this and everything else →

All of coconut’s names

Reactions to refined derivatives vary from person to person. This list helps you ask better questions; your allergist decides what you avoid. Educational only, not medical advice. Always confirm with your allergist.

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