PCA endorses medical studies on virgin coco oil

Without medical evidence supporting the beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on human health, the product might not “secure its sustainable future," the Philippine Coconut Authority said Wednesday. After almost a decade, the PCA is encouraging manufacturers of virgin coconut oil to study its effects on humans. “Some nine years after the market launch of the virgin coconut oil, we have no solid clinical and medical study about the product," PCA administrator Oscar Garin said in a statement. What manufacturers are highlighting are personal testimonies and anecdotal stories of people from around the world, about how virgin coconut oil changed their lives, Garin said. Virgin coconut oil, once considered as a sunset industry, has already “suffered badly," the PCA said. “It is by the researches done by people around the world who kept their faith on coconut that enabled the industry to rise up again," Garin said. These researches are indicative of the beneficial effects of coconut oil — the so-called "healthiest oil on earth" — to heart and vascular diseases and HIV/AIDS, he added. “But these findings together with innumerable anecdotal stories still need a definitive clinical study to establish that virgin coconut oil is beneficial to body cholesterol," Garin pointed out. He said PCA is now considering the adoption of public-private partnership, as enunciated by President Benigno Aquino III, for the research and development cooperation. “We know for a fact that all business entities, including our coconut products manufacturers, are allowed by law to set aside a certain percentage of their income for use in their research and development," Garin said. A portion of manufacturers' income may be pooled to help fund very timely and vital research on the product. —JE/VS, GMANews.TV