INCI names / Cocoa butter
Cocoa butter INCI name
The INCI name for cocoa butter is Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter in a lotion or balm, and Sodium Cocoa Butterate in cold-process soap, where the oil reacts with lye and the oil itself is no longer in the finished bar.
| In lotions, balms and other cosmetics | Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter |
|---|---|
| In cold-process soap (sodium hydroxide) | Sodium Cocoa Butterate |
| In liquid soap (potassium hydroxide) | No potassium salt name exists in the glossary, so the tools list a potassium recipe with this oil as added: each oil by its own name, then Potassium Hydroxide. |
| Superfat share in soap (unreacted) | Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter |
| On a US label | Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter; in soap, Sodium Cocoa Butterate (no FDA registry record; printed as the EU name) |
| In Great Britain and Northern Ireland | The same names as the EU. Northern Ireland uses the EU glossary cited below; Great Britain still uses the glossary it kept from the EU, where the same names have other entry numbers. |
| Also entered as | cacao butter |
Glossary citation: Sodium Cocoa Butterate #26502; Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter #28720 (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175 on EUR-Lex).
One detail catches many labels: the EU glossary name has no common name in brackets. In the EU and the UK it is "Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter"; the bracketed form, "Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter", is the US name.
In the soap or skincare tool, put it on its own line with its weight, for example "cocoa butter, 30", and the tool prints the right name for the product type and the region you choose.
Transcribed from the EU glossary of common ingredient names (Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175) and checked against it; the US names are the ones FDA's substance registry (GSRS) records. A labelling reference, not safety advice.