Plant Therapy - Essential Oils And Purity

I'm a little dizzy and shocked after beginning to search the facts of the food labelling norms, and the fact that foods imported into North America may be labeled "Certified USDA Organic", yet may come from overseas farms that are never inspected.

Foods, herbs, flowers, may be grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and yet the farm may be contaminated with heavy metal run off from near by industry.

Natural News reports this in creepy detail.

Olive Oil

I'll use olive oil as an example because you are probably familiar with it, shopping for it and using the label information for making your choices.

Natural News also informs us:

Tom Mueller, the bold author of Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, reports that up to "70 percent of the extra virgin olive oil sold worldwide is watered down with other oils and enhancers making them far from virgins"...

Scambusters has tips for choosing a good olive oil, avoiding the labeling scams. 

The Olive Center at UC Davis has published a 22 page report on olive oils.

Olive Oil Times presents a front page of references to olive oil fraud.

The New York Daily News has also exposed food fraud.

Here is a food fraud database with search, and an online forum.

And there are many more web sites with food fraud reports.

 

The most common advice from many fraud-busters, and natural care physicians is to buy locally. That's your closest chance to knowing where your foods, herbs, and essential oils come from.

Some essential oil companies grow their own plants, or obtain them from wild-harvest areas.  

Floracopeia states that their products are grown locally, or imported from local farmers in other countries. This company does not use world brokers, middle companies which, like olive oil brokers, may add chemicals, dilute the oils, or even provide oils which are completely synthetic.