Pure essential oil question

[Guest guest]

I apologize to those who are reading this post

(again) and don't know the answer, but I have not

received one response and would really appreciate

some input... please?

 

I visited a distillery last weekend and was told by

the distillers that according to federal regulations

they are allowed to cut (adulterate) their oil

by up to 50% and still call it " pure " .

 

Is this a common practice?

 

What is the most likely thing that someone

would use to cut or dilute their oil (other than

a lower quality of the same oil?) I asked the

distillers what they were allowed to use, and

they did not know.

 

Thanks for taking the time to help

me with this.

 

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Holly,

 

I am by no means an expert on eo's or anything, but I'd venture to say that

if the eo is diluted by 50% then that is what it is. A diluted eo. It

might be a pure eo that is diluted but you can't call it 100% pure unless it

is 100% pure. Did that make sense??? And....there isn't much if any

regulation with eo's, except for wintergreen (and others I'm not listing)

which are hazardous.

 

If the distillers didn't know what they were using to cut the eo, then I'd

run the other direction from anything they offer. That runs right along

with misbranding in my opinion. However, I do believe that adulteration

runs rampant in the eo industry and that is why it is so important to have a

trustworthy supplier. Someone who tests their oils and will give you those

results. Like Butch, Chris and Marge to name a few.

 

Hope that helps some.

 

Margaret

 

 

 

>

>I apologize to those who are reading this post

>(again) and don't know the answer, but I have not

>received one response and would really appreciate

>some input... please?

>

>I visited a distillery last weekend and was told by

>the distillers that according to federal regulations

>they are allowed to cut (adulterate) their oil

>by up to 50% and still call it " pure " .

>

>Is this a common practice?

>

>What is the most likely thing that someone

>would use to cut or dilute their oil (other than

>a lower quality of the same oil?) I asked the

>distillers what they were allowed to use, and

>they did not know.

>

>Thanks for taking the time to help

>me with this.

>

>Holly

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Holly and Margaret,

 

I don't have the specific information at my fingertips right now, but

I will share with you generally whan I know about labeling products as

pure and natural.

 

It certainly makes sense that if you dilute an essential oil by 50%

you can no longer call it 'pure'. Unfortunately there is little

common sense available when it comes to the FDA and laws about such

things. A single essential oil can be diluted with a carrier oil

(almond oil for example) and may still be labeled as pure. I can't

recall exactly without the FDA information at my fingertips, but I

believe the amount of essential oil can be as low as 6 or 7% and the

label may still represent the oil as pure. When I am back in

California where I have a hard copy of that information I will quickly

get it up on this board.

 

Similarly, a body care product containing, for example, 10 ingredients

may contain only 1 natural ingredient and 9 man-made ingredients and

may still call itself 'natural'.

 

It's important for all of us to be able to read and UNDERSTAND the

ingredients in all of our products. I have a handy booklet scanned

into my PDA with the names of hundreds of chemical ingredient names to

help identify them when I'm considering a product. It's kind of a

shame to have to take the time to analyze things so closely, but

obviously we all understand the importance of doing so.

 

Peace and Light

Keith

 

, " Margaret Helm-Duell "

<naturalindulgences wrote:

>

> Hi Holly,

>

> I am by no means an expert on eo's or anything, but I'd venture to

say that

> if the eo is diluted by 50% then that is what it is. A diluted eo. It

> might be a pure eo that is diluted but you can't call it 100% pure

unless it

> is 100% pure. Did that make sense??? And....there isn't much if any

> regulation with eo's, except for wintergreen (and others I'm not

listing)

> which are hazardous.

>

> If the distillers didn't know what they were using to cut the eo,

then I'd

> run the other direction from anything they offer. That runs right

along

> with misbranding in my opinion. However, I do believe that

adulteration

> runs rampant in the eo industry and that is why it is so important

to have a

> trustworthy supplier. Someone who tests their oils and will give

you those

> results. Like Butch, Chris and Marge to name a few.

>

> Hope that helps some.

>

> Margaret

>

>

>

> >

> >I apologize to those who are reading this post

> >(again) and don't know the answer, but I have not

> >received one response and would really appreciate

> >some input... please?

> >

> >I visited a distillery last weekend and was told by

> >the distillers that according to federal regulations

> >they are allowed to cut (adulterate) their oil

> >by up to 50% and still call it " pure " .

> >

> >Is this a common practice?

> >

> >What is the most likely thing that someone

> >would use to cut or dilute their oil (other than

> >a lower quality of the same oil?) I asked the

> >distillers what they were allowed to use, and

> >they did not know.

> >

> >Thanks for taking the time to help

> >me with this.

> >

> >Holly

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I know that the terms " natural " and " hypo-alergenic " have no meaning

as the FDA does not have any definition that has to be met to use

those terms.

 

I suspect the same may be true for the word " pure " . For Example, Ivory

makes the claim of " 99.9% pure " . Pure what?

Joanne

 

, " Keith " <keith wrote:

> I will share with you generally whan I know about labeling products

as

> pure and natural.

>

> It certainly makes sense that if you dilute an essential oil by 50%

> you can no longer call it 'pure'. Unfortunately there is little

> common sense available when it comes to the FDA and laws about such

> things.

[Guest guest]

Ivory

makes the claim of " 99.9% pure " . Pure what?

 

[Dave:] Pure hyperbole, my friend. It floats because they whip air into it.

Ivory’s been around a long time. It wasn’t long after the Civil War that a

worker in P & G’s plant left a mixing machine on by mistake. (He forgot to

turn it off while he went to lunch). Anyway the floating soap was an

instant hit. It’s great stuff for cleaning fine leather.

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.6/428 - Release 8/25/2006

 

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.6/428 - Release 8/25/2006

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Well, you certainly learn something new every day, even at my age. :-) I had

no idea this was how Ivory soap got to float. Thanks, Dave. Hope the

employee was appropriately compensated. Now I wonder what machinery we

could forget about and leave on to come up with a universal phenomenon.

(*grins*, as Chris says)

 

Be Well,

Marcia Elston http://www.wingedseed.com

" Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot. " Hausa Saying from

Nigeria

 

 

>

>

> On Behalf Of David Lambert

> Friday, August 25, 2006 4:17 PM

>

> RE: Re: " Pure " essential oil question

>

> Ivory

> makes the claim of " 99.9% pure " . Pure what?

>

> [Dave:] Pure hyperbole, my friend. It floats because they

> whip air into it.

> Ivory's been around a long time. It wasn't long after the

> Civil War that a worker in P & G's plant left a mixing machine

> on by mistake. (He forgot to turn it off while he went to

> lunch). Anyway the floating soap was an instant hit. It's

> great stuff for cleaning fine leather.