Question with regards to E.O. marketing claims for Martin W.

[Guest guest]

Dear Martin,

 

I have been involved in alternative medicine; essential oils and herbs for over

15 years and I would like your expert opinion on something. I have seen claims

over the years from numerous wholesalers and retailers in the US stating that

their oils are " therapeutic, medicinal grade,certified therapeutic or

pharmaceutical grade. " But now I have been seeing more and more terms used to

sell essential oils like, " non-sprayed, wild harvested, conventional and

organic. "

 

In your opinion what should one make of these marketing terms in an unregulated

industry? Are these individuals playing by the rules set forth by the EU and US

when they claim " organic but not certified organic by the NOP or other

regulatory agencies?

 

I would appreciate your insight and feedback, thank you in advance for your

time!

 

Be well,

 

Rachel Markel

Managing Partner

www.eoilcolab.com

www.eoilco.com

www.GreenTerpene.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Rachel,

 

Butch has opined succinctly on this in Martin's absence . . . And while not

disputing him, I'd like to expand. While it is possibly true that 2-3 oils

have been researched enough to be 'graded', the fact is there is no official

grading system when it comes to the therapeutic quality of essential oils.

Any company that claims to have graded oils is proferring false information.

Those who have studied aromatherapy learn the various aspects/requirements

of an oil which would make it therapeutic 'quality' based on the chemical

fingerprint by gcms analysis (some characteristics which Butch has

mentioned) . . . In addition, there are myriad research papers (mostly from

England/France and other European countries) that have been gathered in

databases that help support claims of specific therapeutic actions of

various essential oils in human physiology and psychology and help us

isolate the respective chemicals responsible for therapeutic actions. . . .

Bob Harris offers a databse of abstracts on cd and loose leaf notebook,

providing source information so you can find the entire papers themselves on

your own . . . A sort of head start, as it is. The AIA (Alliance of

International Aromatherapists http://www.alliance-aromatherapists.org/)

formed about 3-4 years ago in Boulder is making strides in developing a

research database as well as building a stronger organization dedicated to

the study of medical aromatherapy. All done by volunteers, so the project

is slow moving. The atmosphere in Europe has been much different (before

EU) in which aromatherapy has rapidly gained medical status. Aromatherapy

is finding more resistance from the status quo (AMA) in this country and

most inroads are being made in integrative therapy working with medical

professionals. You'll also find periodic research and contemporary

reporting on the aromatic industry (with a small a) on our group blog

http://www.aromaconnection.org Another good resource with good information

about aromatic plants that you probably alread know about is

http://cropwatch.org Tony Burfield's website.

 

There is probably no stopping impending harmonization with the EU in terms

of new US regulations that are coming down the pike, however, as this

process moves through Congress, some small products companies and suppliers

have already met with legislators and Congressional committees to insure

that our voices are heard in the hope that we might head off any draconian

laws that adversely affect the indie beauty industry (probably a lot of your

customers, Rachel). This is all well and good for cosmetics companies, but

greater attention needs to be paid by the 'aromatherapists'; they need to

get their act together to establish accepted protocols based on acceptable

research. The unfettered access to essential oils as we know today could

change and we could see more restrictions. It could be an uphill battle

because of the brouhaha surrounding pthlates and other dangerous chemicals

that has the public in a quasi-panic. In the EU, REACH (see aromaconnection

articles) is lumping synthetic fragrance chemicals with naturals in their

proposed global regulations. Again, our counterparts in the EU (mainly Burfield) are attempting to influence these regulatory bodies and help build

a case that naturals are not the same as synthetics.

 

Certified Organic, of course, refers to the way the plants themselves are

grown, so traceability of ingredients would be required to assert this

status for any single essential oil or manufactured product. Again, we've

got many articles on aromaconnection reporting on the propositions for

changing the standard now being sought by many orgs and companies

themselves. Regulation is still fuzzy re: essential oils because of

wildcrafted crops or those grown without pesticides in an area where there

is no certification body, not to mention the cost of certification to small

producers that they simply can't afford. The other hot topic today is fair

trade, which is all but impossible to determine when it comes to some

essential oil producers and companies dealing with indigenous populations.

Any of us selling or using chocolate absolute can rest assured that it is

not fair trade and child labor is without a doubt used to harvest the plants

to make it.

See http://www.aromaconnection.org/2008/02/lets-talk-about.html With all

the other problems we have in this collapsing economy, I think it's going to

be a setback in momentum to bring these issues to the forefront and

establish world-wide protocols.

 

Good discussion.

 

Be Well,

Marcia Elston, Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence

http://www.wingedseed.com

http://www.aromaconnection.org

" The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't

have any " : Alice Walker

 

 

________________________________

 

ATFE2 [ATFE2 ] On Behalf Of

ramarkel

Friday, March 06, 2009 9:46 AM

ATFE2

[ATFE2] Question with regards to E.O. marketing claims for Martin

W.

 

 

 

Dear Martin,

 

I have been involved in alternative medicine; essential oils and herbs for

over 15 years and I would like your expert opinion on something. I have seen

claims over the years from numerous wholesalers and retailers in the US

stating that their oils are " therapeutic, medicinal grade,certified

therapeutic or pharmaceutical grade. " But now I have been seeing more and

more terms used to sell essential oils like, " non-sprayed, wild harvested,

conventional and organic. "

 

In your opinion what should one make of these marketing terms in an

unregulated industry? Are these individuals playing by the rules set forth

by the EU and US when they claim " organic but not certified organic by the

NOP or other regulatory agencies?

 

I would appreciate your insight and feedback, thank you in advance for your

time!

 

Be well,

 

Rachel Markel

Managing Partner

www.eoilcolab.com

www.eoilco.com

www.GreenTerpene.com

[Guest guest]

ATFE2 , " ramarkel " <ramarkel wrote:

>

> Dear Martin,

>

> I have been involved in alternative medicine; essential oils and herbs for

over 15 years and I would like your expert opinion on something. I have seen

claims over the years from numerous wholesalers and retailers in the US stating

that their oils are " therapeutic, medicinal grade,certified therapeutic or

pharmaceutical grade. " But now I have been seeing more and more terms used to

sell essential oils like, " non-sprayed, wild harvested, conventional and

organic. "

>

> In your opinion what should one make of these marketing terms in an

unregulated industry? Are these individuals playing by the rules set forth by

the EU and US when they claim " organic but not certified organic by the NOP or

other regulatory agencies?

>

> I would appreciate your insight and feedback, thank you in advance for your

time!

>

> Be well,

>

> Rachel Markel

>-------------

Rachel,

 

I have written about these issues so many times on the groups that I have lost

track. I am sure at least one of the articles on my site pretty much covers your

question. The number one thing is " don't believe anything a supplier claims

unless they can prove it " . We have an industry bursting and overflowing with

liars, hogwash and marketing bs that most people want to believe.

 

As to if these traders comply with various laws, I would say the vast majority

in the USA do not. In the UK slightly more do, but there are still plenty of

rogues out there who the authorities do nothing about. Likewise in EEC

countries, France in particular, there are aromatherapy suppliers who make many

illegal medicinal claims and nothing gets done. My opinion of a supplier who

knowingly makes illegal medicinal claims is they can't be trusted on anything.

 

I hope to persuade Bernie Hephrun to contribute a couple of his excellent

articles on the organic growing situation, and oil buying guides, to my new

site. The articles are years old but have never been on the Internet. People

so easily forget that tons of great articles have only ever been published in

paper form. Bernie in particular has had lots of great articles published over

the years. I am trying to get them onto the Internet before he goes under the

ground. However, he is like Butch, in that he will not give me permission to

publish something if a bloody comma is in the wrong place!!

 

Martin Watt

http://www.aromamedical.org

http://www.aromamedical.com

 

 

 

>In your opinion what should one make of these marketing terms in an

>unregulated industry?