Guess we'll start with the definition of adulteration:
adulteration
/əˌdəltəˈrāSH(ə)n/
noun: adulteration; plural noun: adulterations the action of making something poorer in quality by the addition of another substance.
Okay, so why am I writing about it? I'm so glad you asked! In the world of essential oils adulteration has been a concern since the beginning. Companies will adulterate their essential oils because it’s an easy way to increase profits by also making their essential oil to go a longer way. When essential oils are adulterated and substances are added, they become harmful and fabricated.
What Is Adulteration?
Today, we see a lot of carrier oils being added in order to increase profits and make the essential oil go further. Companies will also add different oils to a pure essential oil. For example, Cassia has a similar to chemical make-up as Cinnamon Bark. Companies will often add a substantial amount of Cassia and label it 100% pure Cinnamon Bark. There are many more ways of adulterating, none of which doTERRA involves in.
Why Does Adulteration Matter?
In many cases, the added substance is inferior or even harmful. Adulteration's not only have the potential to alter the chemical and physical properties of an oil, but they can decrease the efficacy of the oil and even cause adverse effects. Let’s say that a customer purchases a bottle of Lavender essential oil that has been adulterated. When they try to use the oil for things like relaxation, improved sleep, or skin benefits, they might think, Essential oils don’t work for me, because they are using a less potent, less effective oil.
How Are Essential Oils Adulterated?
Oils can be adulterated in several ways during the production process, from diluting with cooking oils to adding synthetic chemicals. The important thing to know is that adulteration is always intentional—you cannot accidentally adulterate an oil.
Synthetic
Many of the chemical compounds found in essential oils can be synthesized in a lab. Typically, these synthetic constituents are created out of petro-chemicals. Lavender can be produced without using a Lavender plant at all, but by synthesizing linalool and linalyl acetate from petroleum-based products.
Natural Isolates
This means that a naturally-occurring chemical constituent is added to the essential oil. One example is the chemical constituent alpha-pinene, a primary constituent in Frankincense. Alpha-pinene can be taken from trees used in the paper industry and added to Frankincense essential oil.
Dilution
In order to make a small amount of essential oil larger, it can be diluted using carrier or cooking oils such as olive, coconut, or canola. This dilution lessens the potency and effectiveness of the oil.
Why Are Oils Adulterated?
When adulteration occurs, it is because an essential oil producer has consciously and purposely added a substance to the oil. Because there is no regulatory body that oversees the quality or safety of essential oils, adulteration is very common in the essential oil industry. By adding other substances to the original, pure oil, the producer can get more money out of the oil and charge a higher price for a lower quality oil. Although adulteration is no accident, it is still possible for an essential oil company to be unaware of adulterations in their oils. If an oil company receives their oils from a third party distiller or broker, it is possible that the third party is simply being dishonest—telling the company that the oils are pure, when they actually include adulterations. Because of this, the only way for an essential oil company to know if their oils are actually pure and unadulterated is to have involvement in the sourcing, growing, distilling, and testing phases of essential oil production. This is where social media reports come in. By tinkering with some data points here and there, social media marketers can tell middle managers and top-level executives how their brands are perceived by their customers. More than just the numbers, digital marketers must also create a concise yet effective social media report that is meaningful for all stakeholders involved.
How Can I Tell The Difference?
There are a number of ways in which the quality of essential oils can be compromised-from the growing conditions of the plants to their harvesting, distillation, manufacturing, distribution, or storage.
What Are The Most Common Things Added To Essential Oils?
Essential oils can be contaminated or adulterated in other ways but the most common ways they are extended are by adding Fatty Oils, Alcohol, or other similar oils.
How Can Adulterated Oils Harm Me?
Once an oil’s purity has been compromised, they are much more prone to produce an allergic reaction, irritation, and/or undesirable or toxic side effects.
doTERRA's Commitment To You
We are committed to providing you the best quality of essential oil that money can buy. A great deal of time and effort is put into providing the highest quality oil. However, this is a commitment we are willing to make. We are proud to say that quality is our priority. We can confidently say, you will be receiving the highest quality and most pure essential oil with every doTERRA bottle you purchase.
ResourcesdoTERRA's transparency is there testing is available to anyone at: www.SourceToYou.com You can view sourcing stories, review testing results and tons more. If you have a doTERRA bottle, simply plug the numbers on the bottom into the website and you'll learn all about where that batch of oil came from, testing, etc.
As always if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.
xoDanette