Open Food Labels. Search 429 ingredients⌘K

Cocoa butter

What the research shows

Prototype

No concerns

none of the findings here link it to harm

2 health findings on this page, all in people · See the findings

A pale-yellow fat from cocoa beans.

It is used to make chocolate and related sweets.

Written from Open Food Facts and English Wikipedia12

What research says

Studies in people

  • No harm found

    Post-meal inflammation3

    Eating cocoa butter did not change inflammation markers in the women's blood after meals.

  • No harm found

    Liver fat and belly fat5

    In healthy adults, eating cocoa butter did not change liver fat or belly fat compared with other fats.

How it’s made and used

  • Blood fat levels4

    In people, cocoa butter had almost the same effect on blood fats as palm and olive oils.

  • Chocolate texture and flavour6

    In lab studies, swapping some cocoa butter for shea butter made chocolate feel sandy and release flavour more slowly.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least two findings in people. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

References

  1. 1cocoa butter: ingredient taxonomy entry. Open Food Facts.
  2. 2Cocoa butter. Wikipedia. Accessed September 26, 2026.
  3. 3Tholstrup T, Teng KT, Raff M. Dietary cocoa butter or refined olive oil does not alter postprandial hsCRP and IL-6 concentrations in healthy women. Lipids. 2011;46(4):365-70. doi:10.1007/s11745-011-3526-4
  4. 4Cheng C, Wang D, Xia H, et al. A comparative study of the effects of palm olein, cocoa butter and extra virgin olive oil on lipid profile, including low-density lipoprotein subfractions in young healthy Chinese people. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2019;70(3):355-366. doi:10.1080/09637486.2018.1504009
  5. 5Stonehouse W, Sergi D, Benassi-Evans B, et al. Eucaloric diets enriched in palm olein, cocoa butter, and soybean oil did not differentially affect liver fat concentration in healthy participants: a 16-week randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021;113(2):324-337. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqaa347
  6. 6Molard B, Forestier-Chiron N, Deuscher Z, et al. Beyond cocoa butter: How partial substitution with cocoa butter extenders reshapes temporal dominance of sensations and aroma release in chocolate. Food Res Int. 2026;243(Pt 2):120345. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2026.120345