Why are dōTERRA’s oils the best?
dōTERRA recognizes how important every step is to extract and bottle these pure oils. To assure us of the oil’s purity and potency, dōTERRA uses MS/GC testing for every vial of every batch of essential oil. The testing is done by a third party, unassociated with the plant growers, distillers, or dōTERRA. If the oils are confirmed pure, having the proper constituents and properties and the proper amounts, the oils are labeled CPTG (Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™).
“AFNOR or the Association Française de Normalisation is a French national organization and member body of the ISO or International Organization for Standardization. The ISO is an international standard-setting body that promulgates worldwide industrial and commercial standards. Although the ISO is a non-governmental organization, it often works with government organizations and industry leaders to set standards that sometimes become law.
Although AFNOR and the ISO have monograph standards for certain plant extracts in different industries, they do not have standards for grades of essential oils, particularly “therapeutic grade” essential oils. In fact, there are no current regulatory standards for the use of the descriptor “therapeutic grade” in the industry and anyone can use the term to describe their essential oils regardless of their purity or potency.
Our CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® quality standard is more rigorous, yet very different in nature and function than the ISO monographs for aromatic extracts. This statement, however, should not be interpreted that AFNOR or the ISO has a standard for “therapeutic grade” essential oils or that any essential oil product has AFNOR or ISO certification or approval. They do not certify brands nor do they grade essential oils as therapeutic, grade-A, premium, etc. The ISO monographs for essential oils are not comparable nor serve the same quality control function as the dōTERRA CPTG standard.
The absence of regulatory standards regarding the use of the terms “essential oil” and “therapeutic grade” are the very reason for developing a higher standard of quality control we have branded CPTG Certified Pure Therapuetic Grade®. Although there are good essential oils available to consumers, many products claiming to be essential oils often are not pure aromatic extracts and often contain fillers and non-aromatic compounds. The dōTERRA name and CPTG registered trademark represent our guarantee of 100% pure essential oil extracts and accurate product labeling.
Part of our mission at dōTERRA is to be a leader and educator in the essential oil industry. We look forward to working with other responsible industry leaders and standard setting bodies to establish high standards for products labeled as pure essential oils. In the mean time, the dōTERRA name and CPTG registered trademark will continue to reflect our unyielding effort to provide you with the safest, purest, and most potent essential oil products available to consumers today.”
Dr. David Hill
Potency is as important as Purity
Do you know where your essential oils come from? You should. It makes a huge difference as to where the oils you’re relying on to treat yourself and your family are sourced. dōTERRA knows where in the world to go for the most potent plants to harvest and turn into powerful neutraceuticals.
Rosemary Comparative Chemical Composition
If you want to use Rosemary essential oil to treat a respiratory infection or even Alzheimer’s, you want to be certain that you’re buying an oil with the following chemical makeup. Does your essential oil company test every vial of every batch like dōTERRA does to ensure that you’re getting the most pure and potent essential oil on the planet? dōTERRA leaves nothing to chance, nor do they do their own testing which muddies the water…
Cilantro/Coriander Comparative Chemical Composition
Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ is the highest grade level possible in the essential oil industry and is guaranteed to be 100% pure.
dōTERRA (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™® essential oils represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today. They are gently and skillfully distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the world for ideal extract composition and efficacy. Experienced essential oil users will immediately recognize dōTERRA’s superior quality standard for naturally safe, purely effective therapeutic-grade essential oils.
There are a growing number of products claiming to be or to contain essential oils. They range in price and quality and are found in skin care, cosmetics, aromatherapy, and other products. However, many of these products do not use 100% pure essential oils and often use fragrant synthetic chemical substitutes to dilute or replace more expensive essential oil extracts. Furthermore, there are no current regulatory standards for the descriptive use of the “therapeutic grade” for products labeled as essential oils.
The CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™®* mark represents dōTERRA’s own internal standards for sourcing and testing 100% pure aromatic botanical extracts using independent testing laboratories. The dōTERRA brand and registered CPTG mark represent dōTERRA’s guarantee of 100% pure essential oil extracts that meet high standards for both purity and material composition and accurate product labeling.
dōTERRA’s therapeutic-grade essential oils are 100% pure natural aromatic compounds carefully extracted from plants. They do not contain fillers or artificial ingredients that would dilute their active qualities. Proper extraction and quality control methods also ensure that dōTERRA’s essential oils are free of any contaminants such as pesticides or other chemical residues. In addition to being 100% pure and natural, dōTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils are subjected to further quality testing that ensures the correct composition of the active natural compounds found in each oil. Even though an essential oil may be 100% pure, if the right species or part of a plant has not been used, or if the plant has not been grown in the right environment or harvested at the right time, or if it has not been distilled under the right conditions, the natural chemical makeup of the extraction will not provide as predictable and powerful a benefit. In some cases, the wrong plant harvested at the wrong time may result in an extract that contains harmful levels of some constituents.
dōTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils are guaranteed to be 100% pure and natural and free of synthetic compounds or contaminates. They are subjected to rigorous mass spectrometry and gas chromatography testing to ensure extract composition and activity. dōTERRA’s 100% pure essential oils represent the safest and most beneficial essential oils available today.
(Try this at home: Compare the smell of dōTERRA’s 100% lavender essential oil to another lavender oil or product in your home. If your product’s fragrance is overbearing in any one note it may contain synthetic chemical substitutes. A 100% pure therapeutic-grade essential oil should have a balanced, broad fragrance profile and should smell crystal clean. Now, compare the feel of your product to dōTERRA’s essential oil. A pure essential oil should not feel slick or oily but rather absorb cleanly and completely into your skin.)
dōTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils are 100% pure natural aromatic compounds carefully extracted from plants. They do not contain fillers or artificial ingredients that would dilute their active qualities. Proper extraction and quality control methods also ensure that dōTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils are free of any contaminants such as pesticides or other chemical residues. In addition to being 100% pure and natural, dōTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils are subjected to further quality testing that ensures the correct composition of the active natural compounds found in each oil. dōTERRA’s global network of leading essential oil chemists and growers select plant species, grown in ideal environments, carefully harvested at the right time, and skillfully extracted by experienced distillers to ensure essential oil extracts of consistent and powerful potency.
Below is a chart that shows the types of Essential Oils that are common in the industry.
- The first is “Synthetic”; which is used in the Perfume and Industrial industry. These oils are made up of synthetic compounds or are chemically engineered. This makes up the biggest part of the Essential Oils sold today.
- The second is “Food Grade”; these oils are used in the food industry. For an Essential Oil to be used in the food industry it only has to pass as “Generally Recognized as Safe”, commonly known as the GRAS Standard.
- The third is Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils. These can be purchased in grocery stores, body and bath stores, health stores, etc. For many years, this has been the highest standard of oils in the market.
- Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils go through a testing process called Gas Chromatography. Most reputable companies in the Essential Oil industry conduct this test. This test checks and insures that the oil contains the correct compounds; however, it does not determine if the oil contains any impurities, pesticides or other chemicals.
- The second test is the Mass Spectrometry test which checks all the compounds in the oil and also checks for pesticides or any other impurities that may be present in the oil.
The small dot in the center represents the CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils. This is the highest standard of Essential Oils in the market today. All Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ Essential Oils are third-party tested so that the company has no influence over the results of the tests. CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ Essential Oils are guaranteed to be 100% pure, natural and free of synthetic compounds or contaminates and that’s what you need in an essential oil that you are using as a natural pharmaceutical and why we use only CPTG essential oils in Agape Oils’ products.
When researching Essential Oils, make sure you are getting the quality and standard you are searching for. We believe all Essential Oils have their place in the industry. It depends on you the consumer and what you are trying to achieve with the use of the oils. If you just want an oil to make your house smell better there are many at your local market. If you want a oil that not only makes your house smell better, but also kills airborne bacteria and does not pollute your home with unwanted chemicals, try dōTERRA. If you want pure, safe, effective oils, which your whole family can use and enjoy, try dōTERRA. Take the dōTERRA challenge today. We challenge you to compare dōTERRA to any other essential oil on the market and see for yourself the quality of these amazing products.
What is Certified Pure Therapeutic GradeTM?
Parts of this were taken with permission from Essential Oils Overview and Reference Guide, published by: The Family Tree, 2008
There are a great number of variables that influence the actual essential oil you receive in the 15 ml bottle that contains about 300 drops of oil that you will carefully use for the well-being of you, your family, and friends. That 15ml was extracted and distilled from 30 to 300 pounds of plant matter. Of utmost importance to you is:
- Where and how was that plant grown?
- What were the soil conditions?
- What were the water conditions during the growing season?
- Were there any insecticides, pesticides, or herbicides used?
- Is it truly organic?
- When and how was the material harvested?
- Was it the right season?
- The correct maturity of the plant?
- The optimum time of day?
- What about the processing?
- Were proper cleaning and preparation made with the equipment?
- Were the correct parts of the plant used in the distillation process?
- Were temperatures maintained at proper levels?
- Were the clean and viable containers used during the process and for gathering?
- What about packaging and distribution?
- Were the clean and viable containers used during the process and for gathering?
- Was there any cutting (adding other similar and hard-to-detect less expensive oils) done to lower the cost of the oil?
These and other questions are very important to each of as we use essential oils and their derivative products. It would be impossible for any one of us to answer all these question. Fortunately, the company we have chosen to source all of our essential oils from is making it their business to answer the questions for each of us. They use the most modern Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy testing through a third party to assure us that testing standards will meet or exceeding ISO and AFNOR standards. As a pledge of this quality they label these products with their trade marked seal of Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™.
dōTERRA’s products, as explained above, stand alone as Certified Pure Therapeutic GradeTM . Below this in guaranteed purity in the industry of these grades of products.
Grade A essential oils are pure therapeutic quality (highest grade) and are usually made from naturally (often organically) grown plants distilled at the proper temperatures using steam distillation. This is the category that all of dōTERRA’s essential oils and essential oil-enhanced products start from. Beyond this they are tested and cerfified as described above.
Grade B essential oils are food grade; they may contain synthetics, pesticides, fertilizers, chemical/synthetic extenders, or carrier oils.
Grade C oils are perfume grade and may contain the same type of adulterating chemicals as food grade oils. They also usually contain solvents which are used to gain a higher yield of oil.
Floral Water is a byproduct of the distillation process and can be very high quality if it comes from a Grade A distillation process. Accordingly it is of very low quality if it comes from poor quality raw materials and/or poor distillation processes.
Certified Pure Therapeutic GradeTM is the label you will see on dōTERRA’s Essential Oils. Of lesser-guaranteed purity will be those with labels such as “Pure Essential Oil or “Pure Therapeutic Grade”.
Our admiration to dōTERRA’s founding team for their commitment to our safety and well-being.
To learn more about dōTERRA contact us today!
