Someone at whole foods told me today that the young coconuts that are shaved are safe to eat

others have told me that there is soaked in formaldehyde and really have been contaminated

what is the truth

do you know

thank you very much

Supposedly all that are shipped in from out of the country are dipped/sprayed so they will survive the long transit time.


Some feel that the dip/spray does not penetrate to the inner layer where the meat/water is...I don't know...


There are online sources where you can purchase "clean" ones "in country", but they are a bit pricey.

I buy those coconuts at WF's and I just know how hard that shell is, even after they take off the outer husk so I am not worried. The company that WF's usually carries is the same one that I have bought from when I visit Asian markets. It's your call but I have no problem with them.

It's probably a legal option to dip them in hexamethylenetetramine, which when exposed to moisture "expresses" formaldehyde as a fungicide--

"Conceivably some young coconuts could be dipped in Hexamethylenetetramine, which is allowed by Codex Alimentarius as a preservative for provalone cheeze ("239 Hexamethylene tetramine 25 mg/kg Expressed as formaldehyde", Codex Standard 272-1968) . It is "expressed as formaldehyde" which I gather means it hydrolyses in the presence of water over time to release small amounts of formaldehyde which acts to preserve the food, according to Inchem "DESCRIPTION -- White odourless crystals, which sublime at about 263°C. 1 g yields 1.2 of formaldehyde on hydrolysis. One part is soluble in 1.5 ml of water or 12.5 ml of alcohol. USE -- As a preservative for fish, meat and pickles. [www.inchem.org]

"I suppose if hexamethylenetetramine is still used on some cheeze, fish, meat and pickles, it's a short stretch for it to be used on young coconuts in some markets, though it's hard to understand considering the negative publicity and alternatives." [www.rawfoodsupport.com]

Young coconuts don't make it out to where I live but if they did a little formaldehyde on the shell wouldn't bother me.

If you're a food processor this food additive, hexamethylenetetramine might be appealing if you want the antimicrobial effects of formaldehyde without the hassles of stocking it and having to declare it on the lable. According to Inchem this preservative becomes formaldehyde upon hydrolysis and has been around at least since 1964 --

SPECIFICATIONS FOR IDENTITY AND
PURITY AND TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION
OF SOME ANTIMICROBIALS AND
ANTIOXIDANTS

The content of this document is the result of the deliberations of the
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives which met 8-17
December 1964a

a Eighth Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food
Additives, Wld Hlth Org. techn. Rep. Ser., 1965, 309; FAO
Nutrition Meetings Report Series 1965, 38.


HEXAMETHLENETETRAMINE

CHEMICAL NAMES Hexamethylenetetramine; methenamine; methamin;
hexamethyleneamine

EMPIRICAL FORMULA C6H12N4

DESCRIPTION White odourless crystals, which sublime at
about 263°C. 1 g yields 1.2 of formaldehyde on
hydrolysis. One part is soluble in 1.5 ml of
water or 12.5 ml of alcohol.

[www.inchem.org]

So if your young coconut is wet or even damp and it smells like formaldehyde it might have been dipped in hexamethylenetetramine (other names - methenamine, methamine, hexamethyleneamine).

By the way, I've washed brown coconuts before breaking into them and never noticed formaldehyde.

ok .. so i will buy and use the young coconuts.

thanks much.

rudra.

Sure, another name for this chemical that young (Thai) coconuts might be dipped in (that can hydrolize into formaldehyde) is hexamine [www.chemicaldictionary.org] . Hexamine is an approved food additive in the European Union but not in Australia or New Zealand according to [en.wikipedia.org] --

239 hexamine (hexamethylene tetramine) - preservative
240 formaldehyde - preservative


Formaldehyde is listed though not approved in the EU, Australia or New Zealand.

So, hexamine can actually be added to the food and may be consumed in the EU. For Thai coconuts we're just talking dipping the shell and possibly some getting inside the nut.

There might be exceptions in these countries for preservatives applied only to the shell, IMO. I'm no expert on these matters.

By the way, if you've done any camping you might be familiar with hexamine fuel tablets for cooking.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2010 02:00PM by loeve.