We read more than 500 ingredient lists for coconut. Twelve things they show.
Baby formula, candy, sunscreen, deodorant, conditioner, tube feeds and restaurant allergen charts, read one by one in October 2026. All 39 US infant formulas list coconut oil or MCT. A chain's allergen chart leaves 'tree nuts' blank for coconut shrimp. The findings, with the full lists behind each.
Published October 1, 2026 · 4 min read
Coconut is no longer a labelled allergen in the United States, and it never was in Europe. So the only way to know where it is, is to read the ingredient lists. In September and October 2026 we read more than 500 of them: products in our own registry, and manufacturers' own published lists for everything else.
These are the findings we think matter most. Each links to the page with every product named and every source linked, so you can check any of it.
1. Every US infant formula we read lists coconut oil or MCT
All 39. Thirty-two name coconut oil in the oil blend; the other seven use medium-chain triglycerides, which are made from coconut or palm kernel oil. In the UK and Europe, SMA, HiPP and Holle first milks list neither. Baby formula, label by label.
2. The candy with coconut oil is not the coconut candy
Baby Ruth, 100 Grand, Take5, Whatchamacallit, Lindor truffles, stretchy Laffy Taffy and some Reese's varieties list coconut oil. None of their "contains" statements mentions it. Nearly every chocolate-coated ice cream bar we read lists it too. Candy and chocolate.
3. A restaurant's allergen chart can be blank for coconut shrimp
On Red Lobster's chart, the coconut shrimp row has nothing in the tree-nut column. Dairy Queen marks one coconut-oil dessert as containing tree nuts and another as not. Charts track nine allergens in the US and fourteen in the UK, and coconut is not among them. Restaurant chains and coffee shops.
4. The ordinary antiperspirant lists no coconut. The "natural" deodorant is made of it.
None of the 15 solid antiperspirants we read lists a coconut ingredient, including the two sold as coconut-scented. The natural sticks from six brands are built on coconut oil or its refined fraction. Deodorant.
5. "Mineral" sunscreen is no shortcut
Six of the ten sunscreens with "mineral" in the name list coconut oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride or another coconut-named ingredient. One brand's regular lotion lists none, and its mineral version lists coconut oil second. Sunscreen.
6. Shampoo is the hardest product. Conditioner is not.
Eighteen of the twenty shampoos in our registry contain a coconut-derived cleanser. Of fourteen conditioners read from makers' pages, eight list no coconut-named ingredient at all. Shampoo · Conditioner, styling and hair dye.
7. "Allergy-friendly" does not include coconut
One free-from brand lists fourteen allergens its products avoid, and coconut is not mentioned. Another describes its allergen programme as covering tree nuts "excluding coconut". A third says its products contain no coconut, and that coconut is on its production line. Food shopping.
8. One vitamin, eight labels, seven carriers
Vitamin D drops and capsules from eight brands are dissolved in seven different things: coconut oil, MCT from coconut, MCT from coconut and palm kernel, MCT with no source given, glycerin, olive oil and soybean oil. Vitamins and supplements.
9. The same product is labelled differently in different countries
A tube feed's Canadian label says "modified coconut and/or palm kernel oils (medium chain triglycerides)". The US label for the same product says "medium chain triglycerides". A dry shampoo bought in Panama lists no coconut-named ingredient; the brand's US site lists one. In hospital · Hair care.
10. In medicine, MCT is coconut or palm kernel by definition
The US pharmacopoeia defines medium-chain triglycerides as made from coconut oil or palm kernel oil. It is in some anaesthetics, some intravenous nutrition, many specialised tube feeds and many soft capsules, and the label almost never says which of the two. We found no published reaction to it in a coconut-allergic patient. In hospital.
11. The words on the front tell you nothing
"Hypoallergenic" has no legal definition in the US; in the FDA's words it "means whatever a particular company wants it to mean". The specification for Marseille soap requires 5% olive oil and allows coconut. The best-known "pure-castile" soap lists coconut oil first. Skincare · Soap.
12. It is more common than an allergen the law requires on labels
In the one US population survey, 0.43% of adults described a coconut food allergy, against 0.2% for sesame. Sesame has had to be declared since 2023. Coconut was taken off the US list in January 2025. How common is coconut allergy?
How this was done
- Manufacturers' own lists. For products outside our registry, we used the maker's product page, its page for health professionals, or an official label database: DailyMed for US over-the-counter products and the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database for supplements.
- The registry. More than 100 products were read from the pack, label in hand.
- One product, one date. Every finding is about a specific product on the day it was read. Formulas change, and the same name can cover different recipes.
- What the wording means. "Lists no coconut" is a statement about an ingredient list. It is not a statement that a product is suitable for anyone.
- Sources. Each linked guide ends with the full list, one link per product.
If you find an error, or a label that has changed, tell us and we will correct the page.
Using these findings
You are welcome to quote any of this with a link to the page it comes from. Please give the date with any label finding: October 2026.
Educational only, not medical advice. Always confirm with your allergist.