Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss is now available throughout the entire United States. If you can't find it in your local natural foods store yet, don't despair! There is something you can do about it! Just print out this convenient petition form, have your friends and family join you in signing it, and bring it to your local store manager. This will make a big impact! We have found that most stores will bring in a new product if even just a handful of people request it. But we want to help too, so send us the names of your local stores, and we'll contact them also (click here to email us store names). Together we can bring Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss to everyone who yearns for it!

In most natural food stores (especially the smaller ones), the freezer space is very tight, and the frozen food managers have a tough job trying to fit all the products that people want into that limited freezer space. But this is where your voice can make a difference! Next time you’re shopping, find the frozen food manager or the store manager and let them know that you’d like to see a bigger selection of Coconut Bliss, or tell them the specific flavors you want. One or two requests from customers is all that it takes in most stores—they want to please you!

We are dedicated to using the highest quality certified organic ingredients that we can find, and we use several certified fair trade ingredients, including cocoa, chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. These ingredients are costly. We realize that the price of Coconut Bliss is higher than people are generally accustomed to paying for a frozen dessert, but we have found that more and more people are recognizing the health, environmental, and social impacts of their food choices and are willing to spend more for products that are in alignment with their values.

Although an individual could be allergic to any food, there are eight common foods that account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions. These are: milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts (walnut, cashew, etc.), fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat (according to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network: www.foodallergy.org ). While a couple of our flavors contain tree nuts, most flavors of Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss contain none of these common allergens. If you know you have food allergies, be sure to read the label carefully to avoid flavors that contain foods that you are allergic to. In addition, some of us experience food sensitivities to any number of foods, including sugar, which is abundantly present in most desserts. People frequently write to us saying how grateful they are for Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss because it is the only dessert they can feel good about eating, and feel good after eating. Please click on the following link to learn more about food sensitivities: www.whfoods.com

Yes. Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss is produced in a facility that also processes foods containing many of the common allergens. We employ a strict allergen control program which is comprised of two primary parts. The first part is scheduling: our products are run exclusively on days devoted to Coconut Bliss, so there will be no dairy or soy present in the plant. When we make a flavor that contains a tree nut or peanuts, we will schedule that flavor as the last one in the day. When the run is over, we will take the equipment apart, wash it carefully, inspect it and then leave it to air dry. The following morning, the equipment is inspected again, reassembled, sanitized and then rinsed with clean water. Only then will we start up with a flavor that does not contain the allergen. The second part of our program is the handling of allergenic materials: when we receive things like nuts, we mark each case with a dedicated label and store them separately from the other ingredients. We will not move these allergenic ingredients into the production room until we are ready to start that particular flavor. The production staff is well aware of allergen issues and has been trained to follow strict protocols for scheduling and handling our products in order to avoid accidental ingredient cross-contamination. We feel confident that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that the products are free of allergens, except where noted on the labels.

While coconut oil is a saturated fat, it is very different from the saturated fats in animal products which contain cholesterol and promote heart disease. Animal fats are composed of long chain fatty acids which are harder for our bodies to break down, making them more likely to lodge in our arteries or be stored as fat. For years, health experts erroneously lumped all saturated fats together and told us to stay far away from them, but coconut oil is different. It contains medium chain fatty acids, which our bodies can easily break down and use for energy. Because of this difference, studies show that coconut oil may actually reduce the risk of heart disease by raising "good" hdl cholesterol levels. See question #7 for more details on how our bodies metabolize coconut oil.

The politics of the food industry can sometimes be very complex and machiavellian. In the 1980s there was a campaign to discredit tropical oils, spearheaded by the American Soybean Association and other industry sponsored groups. Eventually, research proved the claims against coconut oil to be unfounded. Dr. C. Everett Koop, the former surgeon general, called the tropical oil scare "Foolishness!" Many researchers, nutritionists, and physicians now believe that coconut oil is the healthiest fat for human consumption. There is a lot of information on the web about the health benefits of coconut. We have found this site: www.coconutresearchcenter.org to be extremely thorough, and a great place to start.

We make no claims about the dietary effects of coconut oil. There is, however, lots of research that suggests that coconut oil can contribute to weight loss. Following is some very clear information about the mechanism for this, from Cherie Calbom's book The Coconut Diet (Warner Books). While we feel excited about coconut oil, and include it as a staple in our own diets, we encourage you to do your own research, and even more importantly, experiment with it yourself and see how it works for you.

"The weight loss secret is in the chain-the chain of molecules that make up the fat of coconut oil. These shorter chain fatty acids that dominate coconut oil are known as medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). They burn up quickly in the body. They're a lot like adding kindling to a fire, rather than a big damp log...

"Following rapid breakdown and absorption in the intestinal tract, MCTs are transported directly to the liver. Once there, they freely enter the mitochondria (the energy-producing elements of the cell) and are rapidly converted to ketones, which are almost immediately converted into energy. On the other hand, long chain triglycerides (LCTs), which comprise most other oils, are transported from the intestines as chylomicrons (relatively large fat droplets). They are eventually dumped into the bloodstream near the heart. These fat droplets must then be transported through the entire body before they reach the liver.

"This difference in metabolism means that the body treats MCTs in a completely different manner than the way it deals with other fats. LCTs are slow to metabolize in the body, and as a result, are more easily stored as fat. MCTs, on the other hand, rapidly burn for energy use, thus are less likely to contribute to fat storage. If you consider your body's metabolism to be like an oil furnace, eating LCTs is like adding oil to the storage tank, whereas consuming MCTs is like pumping fuel from the delivery truck right into the furnace. Less is stored; more is burned.

"Because the LCT molecule is so large, the body cannot process it very efficiently; it prefers to simply store it in adipose tissue (fat cells). On the other hand, MCTs can be rapidly converted into energy. Here's how it works: The body removes the carbon atoms two at a time and transforms them into ketones, which are high-energy molecules that pass easily back into the bloodstream and are carried quickly to the cells. Once in the cells, they can be rapidly turned into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy molecules of the body. Eating MCTs could be likened to putting premium fuel in the gas tank of your car-it burns more efficiently.

"Thermogenesis is the rate at which the body burns fuel for energy. A very unique quality of MCTs is their ability to increase the rate at which the body burns fat for fuel. This could account for the trim, healthy constitution of most Pacific Islanders who eat a diet high in traditional fats that are primarily composed of MCTs."

We are dedicated to making a pure and simple product, so we use only organic coconut milk and organic agave syrup as the base for all our flavors. To achieve the lower fat level, and probably also to reduce cost, the other brand uses less coconut milk and makes up the difference with chicory root extract, which is commonly used in the food industry as a filler and fat substitute. In addition, Coconut Bliss contains less air. A 1/2 cup serving of Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss weighs 99 grams, while the same size serving of the other brand's chocolate flavor weighs only 85 grams. If you're eating 16% more air, there will be less of all nutrients in each serving (which is measured by volume, not weight).

To put the fat level of Coconut Bliss in perspective, here are some other foods that contain about the same amount of fat as one serving of Coconut Bliss: one tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil or butter, one ounce of dark chocolate, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 cup of avocado, one ounce of almonds or sunflower seeds, 1 1/2 ounces of potato chips (around 15 chips), 2 ounces of tortilla chips (around 20 chips). If you're concerned about your overall fat consumption, it makes sense to moderate your use of all these high fat foods.

Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss is sweetened with agave syrup, which has the lowest glycemic index of any natural, caloric sweetener. (The glycemic index is a way of ranking carbohydrate-rich food that is based on the average increase it produces in blood glucose levels after the food is eaten.) Because of agave's low glycemic index, it is generally considered to be safe for people who have Type II, non-insulin dependent diabetes. It is important, though, to check with your doctor or health care professional if you are someone who needs to pay attention to your insulin levels and have not yet experimented with agave.

Only one flavors that we are currently making, Mint, contains a small amount of organic cane sugar. This sugar is in the chocolate that we use for the flakes. We are looking for a supplier of chocolate that is sweetened with agave, but have not found a source yet. The amount of cane sugar in these flavors is very small-less than 2.5 grams per serving.

We are continually receiving suggestions for flavors, and maybe someday we'll make them all, but practical necessity requires us to limit our selection to around 8 to 10 flavors at any given time. We are open to suggestions, however, and like to try new things, so please keep sending us your ideas.

We import the coconut milk directly from a certified organic grower in Thailand.

No. At the current scale of our production, we are required to pasteurize our mix (to around 165 degrees) before we freeze it. While Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss definitely does not qualify as a raw food, we have heard from many raw food enthusiasts that they still enjoy Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss from time to time with only minor pangs of guilt.

It is clear from the research that we have examined that GMOs are potentially extremely dangerous to humans and other living organisms. To ensure that our products are GMO-free, we use only USDA certified organic ingredients. The current USDA organic standards prohibit the use of GMOs. If you 'd like to learn more about GMOs, a good place to start is the website www.saynotogmos.org

Yes, it's completely gluten-free. Our ingredient suppliers have all sent us allergen statements verifying that there is no gluten in any of our ingredients.

We are committed to fair trade principles and have secured certified fair trade sources for our vanilla, cocoa, dark chocolate, and coffee. Many ingredients are not yet available with fair trade certification, including coconut milk and agave syrup. We have visited the coconut farm in Thailand as well as the facility where it’s made into coconut milk and we are very impressed with the quality and sanitation standards of the facilities, the integrity of the owners, and the working conditions there. We hope to visit the agave supplier in Mexico soon to personally assess the conditions there as well. We are excited to be using some locally grown ingredients: the organic hazelnuts that we use in our Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge are grown right here in Oregon, and the almonds in our Naked Almond Fudge come from our neighboring state of California. We are particularly excited about supporting the California organic almond growers because they have been seriously impacted by a recent USDA mandate requiring that all almonds grown in the U.S. need to be pasteurized. This mandate does not apply to imported almonds, which are now inundating the U.S. market and really hurting the California growers.

No. Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss contains absolutely no cholesterol. The simple rule of cholesterol is that it is only produced in the bodies of animals (including humans). No plant foods contain cholesterol, regardless of what kinds of fat they may contain.

Yes. We have recently received our kosher certification from Kehilla Kosher in Los Angeles, and all of our flavors are now certified kosher pareve. We have printed new packaging with the heart-K logo, which you will see appearing on the shelves over the next few months as we use up our old packaging. But even if you find a package on the shelf that doesn’t yet have the logo, it is still certified kosher. If you’d like to see a copy of our kosher certification, click here.

Yes. Our containers are made from paper that is bleached without chlorine, coated in polyethlyene, and printed with food safe inks. They are recyclable by any community recycling program that accepts juice and milk cartons. The containers should be rinsed before recycling.

Our obstacle to tamper-free packaging at this time is that the equipment to apply the tamper-proof seals would require significant re-tooling of our production facility and is prohibitively costly. We are still a small company and we do not yet have the financial resources, nor the space in our current facility, to accomplish this. While we feel that it is ideal for the protection of consumers to use tamper-proof packaging, there are many products in natural food stores, including bulk foods, produce, and many packaged goods (including many brands of ice cream from much larger manufacturers), that do not have tamper protection. In our four years of business, during which we've sold more than one million pints of Coconut Bliss, we have never received a single communication or complaint, from either a store or a customer, regarding an incident of tampering with our products.

We are extremely dedicated to the health and safety of our customers, as well as the planet, which is why we have chosen to use only ingredients that are certified organic (thereby free of toxins), and to avoid any unnatural ingredients. We have also chosen to use the most healthy and simple ingredients we can find, such as coconut milk and agave syrup, and to use certified fair trade cocoa, chocolate, vanilla, and coffee, which are grown and marketed with concern for social and economic justice. Additionally, our production facility meets the highest standards for sanitation and quality control.

While it is possible that some resellers of agave syrup may be acting unethically and adulterating their products, we buy our agave syrup from a highly reputable supplier of certified organic ingredients who sources it directly from the manufacturer in Mexico. The agave syrup is made from the blue agave, and is derived from the piña, or body, of the plant. We feel great confidence in the sources we are using and the integrity of the processing, and are planning a visit to the agave facility this year to see it first hand. As with almost everything in the realm of nutrition, there is controversy about the healthfulness of agave syrup. Following are links to a number of articles that give a detailed response to the negative health claims that have been circulating about agave:

Larry's Blog Post "Let's Talk About Agave"

Response to "Just say no to AGAVE!"
www.realrawfood.com 

Agave Syrup-What it is and what it is not (Fructose, Agave Syrup and Health)
By Jim Mitchell

Coconut Bliss: A Research-Based Review of the Health and Nutrition Benefits 
By Buck Levin, Ph.D., R.D.