Goya Coconut Water

By: Tanya Taylor, PhD | Mar 13, 2006

Since I moved from Jamaica and I now live in a rural-ish area in the South, one of the things I miss greatly is access to Jamaican foods. So I was pleasantly surprised when I happened upon Goya Coconut Water at a local grocery store. For those people who have never had the pleasure of tasting pure coconut water, straight from the fruit - I can't even begin to describe how good it is. It's cool, refreshing, and as the coconut vendors on the streets says, "it washes your heart." I don't know if that's true or not, but I had high hopes for this product. Unlike coconut oil, coconut water has no fat. In fact, one cup has only 46 calories, 6 grams of sugar, 252 mg sodium, and 2 grams of protein (Nutritiondata.com).

Uh-oh. Goya messed up. I applaud them for trying, but this "coconut water" tastes more like "sugar and water." The ingredients read 80% coconut water, some coconut pulp, and the rest is sugar. There are 22 grams of sugar in a can (11 ounces), and while this is about the same as a can of soda, the sugary taste really pops out in this product, and I was very disappointed. There's also 120 calories, 1 gram fat, 130 mg sodium, 8% calcium and 5% iron.

The Goya website says: "Made from young green coconuts, Goya's Coconut Water refreshes with the pure essence of the tropics. Our Coconut Water is 100% natural and unsweetened, so it's the healthy choice for a light tropical beverage. And with Potassium and vitamins in every can, Goya Coconut Water is as great for your health as it is for your thirst." There must be an unsweetened version - not that the website indicated this, because not only did the one I buy have sugar, but there was no potassium on the label.

While nutritionally it's not too bad, the taste makes it not worth the $1.00 I paid for it.

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