Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils
by Sarah Eliason NSP (Nature's Sunshine Products) Health Sciences department
Some marketers of essential oils have created
terminology referring to the quality of essential oils. The term "therapeutic
grade" was created for oils that meet these criteria:
Oil comes from the first distillations of the raw plant material.
Nothing is added to the oil after distillation.
No chemical solvents are added to the water during the distillation process.
Our steam distilled essential oils meet these criteria. Because of special methods
used to obtain certain oils, some essential oils would not meet the above criteria.
Citrus essential oils are not steam distilled, but are cold pressed. Because of
the nature of citrus oils, it is important not to use heat or steam in the production
of these oils. Another exception is Jasmine Absolute. A solvent is needed to extract
the important constituents from jasmine flowers.
When applicable, our essential oils are certified to meet Biologic/Eco-Cert standards.
Eco-Cert is an international organization that inspects and certifies products
to verify that they conform to European organic regulations and national and international
norms. Essential oils that are Biologic/Eco-Cert Organic certified are those with
BIO after the oil name.
Nature's Sunshine uses only the highest quality, pure essential oils. NSP analyzes
its complete line of essential oils to ensure that each oil measures up to our
strict quality standards. Using Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry, the
Quality Assurance Department tests every lot of oil we receive to make sure it
meets our high-quality standards and is 100 percent pure. We also test for the
proper components. By verifying that proper chemical components are present, we
can assure that our essential oils demonstrate the desired properties. Just because
an oil is pure doesn't mean it's good enough for NSP. Plant quality and growing
conditions also affect quality, so we get our oils only from reputable growers
and distillers.
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