Name Some Canned Coconut Milk Brands

[Metasequoia]

I just email Thai Kitchen about their organic coconut milk to ask if the cans have BPA. I want to email Native Forest but I can't find their contact info - anyone have a can so they can look? I also plan on emailing Whole Foods to inquire about their store brand.

Any other brands that you know of?

I just read this:

Good brands of coconut milk, therefore, will have thick cream floating on top of the can while the milk on the bottom will be much more watery. The cream usually coagulates in cool weather, or when refrigerated. Brands with milk that looks homogenized tend to have an artificial taste because of additives introduced to make the cream homogenize, or excess processing which changes the nature of the cream. My two preferred brands are Chao Koh in 14 oz. cans and Mae Ploy in 19 oz. cans. The latter is the richest and creamiest of brands I have tried; Chao Koh, while lighter, has a delicate, sweet natural flavor. Beware of look-alike cans of inferior brands. Both are carried by most Southeast Asian markets.

Source

I'll try to find their contact info too.

How does everyone feel about the organic factor? I haven't read anything that made me feel like our coconut milk must be organic...

[dogmom327]

I have one can of Native Forest left

Here is all the contact info from the can:

Dist. by Edward & Sons Trading Co., Inc.
Box 1326 Carpinteria, CA 93014
www.edwardandsons.com

Certified organic by QAI, USA
www.qai-inc.com

Product of Thailand


If you do get answers to your questions, could you post them please?

[Metasequoia]

Huh. I read some of the ingredients: sodium metabisulfite, citric acid, carboxymethylcellulose, polysorbate.... I've never bought canned coconut milk with these preservatives before, yuck.

So how bad is guar gum? That's the only thing besides coconut milk in the Thai Kitchen Organic coconut milk...I think...

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by dogmom327

I have one can of Native Forest left

Here is all the contact info from the can:

Dist. by Edward & Sons Trading Co., Inc.
Box 1326 Carpinteria, CA 93014
www.edwardandsons.com

Certified organic by QAI, USA
www.qai-inc.com

Product of Thailand


If you do get answers to your questions, could you post them please?

Thanks! And yes, I'll post them as I get them.

[Metasequoia]

So far, I've emailed Thai Kitchen, Native Forest (edwardandsons) & Whole Foods Market. I'm not going to email the other two because of the preservatives.

[dachshundqueen]

Guar gum is a thickener like arrowroot starch or xanthan gum.
I use it in all my baking as we're gf and i have no other choice.

UNFORTUNATELY I just read this "Toxic Substances Control Act
Guar gum is listed in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substances Inventory under CAS Registry Number 9000-30-0. For more information, please see Procol® Guar Gum Toxic Substance Control Act. "
See here and may be derived from GMO plants.

OH JOY!!!

Liz

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by dachshundqueen

Guar gum is a thickener. No big deal, like arrowroot starch or xanthan gum.
I use it in all my baking as we're gf and i have no other choice.

Liz

Cool, thanks. Do you know where it comes from? I have some food allergies as well.

[dachshundqueen]

please see my above edited post.

i am not aware of og guar gum being avail to consumers.

This is what I buy.

Liz

[isaoma]

Have any of you heard of Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream concentrate? It's organic: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/co...oncentrate.htm

Apparently, you can add a couple of teaspoons to water to get coconut 'milk', without preservatives & thickeners. And, the cream comes in a glass jar so no BPA leaching. I just bought some and can't wait to see if works.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by isaoma

Have any of you heard of Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream concentrate? It's organic: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/co...oncentrate.htm

Ooo... please let us know how this is! Also let us know what the recipe amounts are (does the quart jar make the equivalent of 6 cans of coconut milk, or 20?). We go through a lot of coconut milk, and I would love to find one without BPA... organic, no additives and less packaging is a bonus!

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by dachshundqueen

UNFORTUNATELY I just read this "Toxic Substances Control Act
Guar gum is listed in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substances Inventory under CAS Registry Number 9000-30-0. For more information, please see Procol® Guar Gum Toxic Substance Control Act. "
See here and may be derived from GMO plants.

OH JOY!!!

Liz

This is comforting:

Carcinogenesis Bioassay of Guar Gum (CAS No. 9000-30-0) in F344 Rats and B6C3F1 Mice (Feed Study)


Guar Gum in the EPA's Substance Registry System.

The only off-putting info I found was this paragraph about the powder:

Summary/Abstract:
A SMALL GROUP OF WORKERS EXPOSED TO GUAR WERE STUDIED BY
A UNIVERSITY GROUP TO DETERMINE IF THE CHEMICAL INDUCED ALLERGIC
SENSITIZATION. THE STUDY WAS INCONCLUSIVE, BUT THE HYPOTHESIS IS STILL
VIABLE; ABOUT 50% OF THE WORKERS EXHIBITED PERSISTENT SYMPTOMS AND
MANY HAVE REDUCED LUNG FUNCTION AS REPORTED.

And organic guar gum IS available! I wish I had asked about this before I emailed the 3 companies....I'll have to ask if/when they respond to my inquiries.

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by isaoma

Have any of you heard of Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream concentrate? It's organic: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/co...oncentrate.htm

Apparently, you can add a couple of teaspoons to water to get coconut 'milk', without preservatives & thickeners. And, the cream comes in a glass jar so no BPA leaching. I just bought some and can't wait to see if works.

Oh, I meant to respond to this:

I just bought a block of Let's Do Organic coconut cream concentrate - comes as a block in a sealed plastic package & it was NASTY! It reeked of & tasted like plastic, I ended up throwing out my porridge this morning. The consistency was pretty poor too.

Maybe the jarred stuff would be tastier? I don't think I'd spend the money on it after my experience, but to each his own.

[guestmama9904]

the tropical traditions concentrate is absolutely divine! it could be eaten alone as a dessert and I am not easily fooled by "natural" desserts but this stuff is seriously a gift to have. its like 20$ for a pint i think, so pricey but if you have an extra 20$ i would invest it in this stuff. i have used it in cooking curries with great sucess but the best way to use it is to eat it strait from the jar, spoon in hand.

wiat I just looked and its only 14$ for a pint!

[mamaspirit]

Originally Posted by isaoma

Have any of you heard of Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream concentrate? It's organic: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/co...oncentrate.htm

Apparently, you can add a couple of teaspoons to water to get coconut 'milk', without preservatives & thickeners. And, the cream comes in a glass jar so no BPA leaching. I just bought some and can't wait to see if works.

I use this! It is wonderful! I add it to a lot of things also... I love tropical traditions. I buy my CO through them.

[quietserena]

The TT CCC didn't work for me either. I love the idea, but it had a taste that didn't sit well. I am going to order another jar and try it because I love the idea that much but it's not going to happen for another little while. I just blew some money on MRH gallon of CO.

[Metasequoia]

I *finally* got a response, first one so far, from Thai Kitchen:

Thank you for your email to Simply Asia Foods.

The can for the Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk does have BPA in it. The levels observed have not exceeded any government standards and all of our containers comply with the standards for food contact packaging. Conclusions of comprehensive evaluations of the safety of Bisphenol A conducted by independent government and scientific bodies worldwide have, in every case, supported the safe use of BPA.

Please let me know if you have any other questions and have a great day!

*****
Consumer Relations
Simply Asia Foods

[Metasequoia]

Oh I almost forgot, I *did* get a response from WF:

Dear ****,

Some of the canned products sold in our stores may have small amounts of bisphenol-a in the lining material. We are actively assessing the safety of the packaging materials used in our stores, as we are committed to helping our customers protect themselves and their families and as such are concerned about the growing body of research which connects BPA and other estrogenic compounds to certain health effects. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that such materials are appropriate and safe, we are currently evaluating certain products and packaging materials on a variety of criteria, including endocrine activity, toxicity, recyclability and functionality. Our goal is to help our customers avoid endocrine active materials in products and packaging where functional alternatives exist.

We are staying on top of the latest academic research regarding the endocrine activity of substances present in plastics, including BPA. When appropriate, we have stopped the sale of certain products and/or provided information to our customers about the products. For example, as of January 2006 we stopped selling baby bottles and child drinking cups made from polycarbonate plastic or other plastics with added phthalates because of the emerging scientific evidence on their risk.

We have begun the process of examining the plastic packaging materials we use to package foods in our stores, and are working with a leading testing firm to design a laboratory test to accurately assess the endocrine activity of these materials. We will continue to search for the safest and most functional packaging materials for our stores.

Thank you for your comments, please let us know if we can help you with anything else.

***** *******
Private Label
Whole Foods Market
550 Bowie Street
Austin, TX 78703
phone: [phone]
fax: [phone]

I'll have to email Native Forest again.

[ChristieB]

Here's another brand for you to consider. Natural Value. Their natural coconut milk (as opposed to their organic) has no additives at all, including no guar gum or xanthan gum. Their contact info (from the can) is [e-mail] or fax [phone]. Their website is www.naturalvalue.com. I suspect that their cans are just as bad as anyone else's, but you can contact them. We ordered a case, since the co-op doesn't sell it, and figured we'd try it with ds, who can't eat any coconut milk from a can. We thought that without additives it would be OK, and it's certainly better than others with additives, but he still reacted. So, there's something about cans that he reacts to.

The TT CCC is really good stuff, and tastes great straight out of the jar (it's like a nut butter, but made from coconut). I use it mostly for snacks but also for curries. I also mix it with water, but usually in larger amounts than they say, to make coconut milk if I need it for baking. For things like a cream sauce, or custard, or ice cream, or chai, I make my own. I've found that I can make a pretty nice coconut milk for these uses. Ds doesn't like the milk made from the CCC. Personally, I don't think it's bad, but it's not great, either. It has a taste that I don't really want in my coconut milk, as good as it is as a spread or other snack. That taste doesn't show up in curries or baked goods, but things where it's the main flavor, I prefer the "purer" taste of the coconut milk that I make.

Now, in terms of ice cream, I do sometimes "enrich" the milk I make with the CCC. When I do this, I like to leave some lumps on purpose. Small lumps of it in the finished product are very nice. Dh thinks they're kind of like little chocolate chips.

[purple_kangaroo]

Trader Joe's brand coconut milk doesn't have the additives/preservatives in it. However, it is labeled "lite" so it also may not have as much of the good oils in it. It tastes quite good.

[melissa17s]

You could make your own... I found a "recipe" here.