Are Young Living Essential Oils "USDA" Organic?
Based on the quality control measures that Young Living practices, they far exceed the scope of organic requirements.
Young Living practices a unique Seed to Seal® quality process that goes beyond the current organic standard in MANY ways.
For example, USDA organic labeling has an allowance for pesticides and chemicals whereas young living has a ZERO tolerance standard. LOVE Young Living’s quality commitment! 💧👌
WE CAN'T TRUST THE USDA ORGANIC LABEL WITH ESSENTIAL OILS.
Here’s a list of allowed substances for use in certified USDA Organic Farming. It raises lots of questions, doesn't it!
§205.601 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production. CLICK HERE FOR LIST
WE CAN'T TRUST THE USDA ORGANIC LABEL WITH ESSENTIAL OILS.
Here’s a list of allowed substances for use in certified USDA Organic Farming. It raises lots of questions, doesn't it!
§205.601 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production. CLICK HERE FOR LIST
The Seed to Seal process ensures the purest therapeutic-grade essential oils through careful monitoring of every step of essential oil production—from the time a seed is sourced until the oil is sealed in the bottle.
Every batch of our essential oils, whether cultivated on our own farms or by one of our carefully vetted partner growers, is rigorously tested and subjected to careful review through every step of production and meets or exceeds industry safety and purity standards. Young Living’s dedication to quality ensures that we provide pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils with the complete, optimal blend of plant constituents to provide maximum potency and results.
As 5.5 million satisfied members and customers across the globe can testify, Young Living sets the standard for purity and quality in the essential oil industry. While standards and guidelines can vary and be modified, our dedication to providing the safest, most beneficial essential oils in the world will never change.
Our oils go beyond organic in their growing and seed sourcing processes. Always have been--even before there was an organic certification process through the FDA, our farms have followed organic practices.
However, we use some non-conventional pest control and soil management practices that involve our own oils as pest control, etc.--some of which are not "approved" or listed as organic pest control options in the FDA Organic standards. They are absolutely safe and effective, but would not allow us to apply for organic certification--that certification binds us to ONLY the pest control means that the FDA deems acceptable for organic crops.
We don't fit their mold very well. Therefore even though we use beyond organic practices, we cannot and will not apply for organic certification. It limits us to not even being able to use our own oils as natural pest and weed control agents even if they work and are safe.
The USDA works with non GMO and Organic, as it's a production issue. And the USDA works hand in hand with the FDA, but the "production" phase falls largely under the USDA governance. The FDA works more so with the processing, marketing and distribution phase. Those steps have more to do with the end product and how it's used, as stated above.
USDA certified organic is first of all, a cheap label because, as we said above, it has nothing to do with processing or addition of other ingredients that can make a product totally unhealthy. Non GMO is (for food) pretty legitimate in many cases and is regulated by the USDA, but BOTH of these require subjecting a LOT of your fields and facilities to constant FDA scrutiny and testing, which I'm sure YL doesn't want to deal with that on their farms all over the world, not to mention the insanely expensive cost involved. They don't need it (clearly, as seen with the growth of the company). Plus the opportunity to see the farms in action and earn the trust and confidence of the consumer is WAY MORE believable than a USDA label. It adds a LOT of integrity to a company that doesn't just hide behind an empty label.
Another helpful article regarding “organic” comes from the Healing Oils of the Bible by David Stewart PhD- ( pg 182)
"Another misleading term is the word "organic". Educated health-oriented people interpret that to mean "grown naturally without poisons or chemicals." But the definition of "organic" as used by organic chemists, is that organic means "composed of carbon compounds." In other words, any carbon compound is "organic".
By this definition, most pharmaceuticals (and all petrochemicals) are "organic", regardless of their origin. In other words, gasoline is organic. Pure rubbing alcohol is organic. Dioxin, a known carcinogen, is organic. Highly toxic industrial solvents such as benzene, are organic. By this definition, every artificial compound synthesized by an organic chemical laboratory is "organic". So when these adulterants are added to an essential oil, the term "organic" can still legally be used, implying one thing to an organic chemist yet something quite different to an unsuspecting customer.
Some of the dilutants used in essential oils are odorless, colorless petrochemicals (which are cheap). however, such compounds can be harmful to one's health when applied to the skin, taken internally, or inhaled over long periods of time. The common availability of such adulterated oils has caused some aromatherapists, who unsuspectingly and routinely use such products, to conclude that it is not safe to use an essential oils directly (neat) without diluting it down to a 2-5% concentration in a neutral fatty base. If such aromatherapists would seek out a reliable source of truly pure therapeutic grade oils, they would find that applying essential oils neat is perfectly safe (with few exceptions) and of far greater therapeutic value than using them diluted." Dr. David Stewart
The concept of “you get what you pay for” is so true about many things...including our precious essential oils. 🌿 Far too often those cheap oils found at Bath & Body Stores, Walmart and even health food stores are filled with synthetic fragrances, not safe for topical use or ingesting. You have NO idea what’s actually IN the bottle. There is ZERO regulation on essential oil labeling. Anyone can sell you anything and that’s what’s happening. 😳😳😳 Umm.. No Thanks‼️✋
Young Living owns organic farms/distilleries all over the world whereas no other essential oil company has even one farm. They all buy from oil brokers and are not necessarily as interested in quality as they are quantity. There is always a buyer somewhere for EVERY oil on the market regardless of its quality. Quality is not negotiable! Making a quality oil means every step of the process is done correctly even when no one is looking.
That’s why I love Young Living so SO much because I can confidently without a doubt tell you about our farms and the insane amount of testing that goes into confirming that Gary Young’s oils are the purest botanical extracts available. 💫
LET’S GEEK OUT ON SCIENCE! 🤓🤓🤓
Seed to Seal is what makes Young Living stand head and shoulders above “competitors” in the world. We are COMMITTED to Seed to Seal and it makes my heart so so happy and confident! YL has set the industry standard for quality with our Seed to Seal process.
In this video segment you will hear all about SCIENCE Pillar of Seed to Seal from Dr. Mike Buch. Dr. Buch has over 25 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. He has a BA in chemistry and MS and PhD degrees in analytical chemistry. He’s a brilliant scientist and researcher! CLICK HERE TO GEEK OUT WITH MIKE BUCH!
Who heads the 3rd party lab that tests our oils? Dr. Herve Casablanca, the top expert on Essential oils in the world! (About Dr Casabianca http://isa-lyon.fr/?profile_cct=herve-casabianca)
What do we match our compounds with? The library with over 3 million ‼️😮 Yes, 3 million records that we have collected over the 24+ years of producing the best Essential Oil in the world!
Young Living's "Seed To Seal" quality commitment goes far BEYOND organic!
There are weather stations in the middle of the growing fields that monitor weather patterns, UV hours per day, temperatures, humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, daylight hours, and sun exposure hours per day. This data is verified with tests to determine daily the best harvest time and maximum growing conditions. Can you believe that? They have day by day sampling of best harvest time. Yes. They take their mission THAT seriously!
To determine the perfect time for harvesting the crops they:
1) Test the sugars (Brix), the oil levels, the compound (constituent) percentages in the plants (As a oil enthusiast, this part gives me warm fuzzies.)
2) Watch the behavior of the plants to determine their needs in order to produce the best oil
3) Sample DURING distillation (sometimes every 30 minutes) to determine the correct distillation time (Again, warm fuzzies.)
4) Test dried plants (sometimes every 2 hours) to determine when they have the highest level of oil for distillation (Again, warm fuzzies)
The rigor that is built into this process is impressive. Some plants are distilled immediately after harvest, some are shade dried for 48 hrs, others for 62 hrs, some are cut at mid-bloom, others are cut before going to seed, some trees need to mature for 125 days, others for 5 years.
Lavender is harvested at 3am.
Melissa herb has to be talked to gently and cannot touch the ground. It has to be walked across the road to the distillery 20 feet away or she will not produce certain therapeutic constituents. The workers are banned from cursing around her. Each plant gets its own special treatment, because the therapeutic oil qualities present themselves at a very specific time in the life cycle.
This company is one of the last in the world to use horses to harvest trees. The horses drag the felled trees out of the forest which prevents contamination of the trees and the farm.
For plants that require distillation immediately, it is of utmost importance to be able to distill on the farm. This company has that capability. Loading the extraction chambers correctly with plant material is critical to extraction of all therapeutic compounds. Knowledge of the correct temperatures for the extraction chamber, condenser, and separator for each unique plant are critical to producing a therapeutic product. Water temperature in the condenser, flow rate of the steam, and liquid/gas volumes must be monitored closely, so that the oil is not lost or damaged. If the distillation chamber gets too hot or the oil coming off isn’t cooled properly, it can fry the therapeutic constituents. It takes 5 years to train as distiller with this company. The distiller goes by sight, touch, and sound of the distillation process to ensure a quality product. It is not only a science, but an art form. The distillation chambers are cleaned with peppermint oil and are made of stainless steel.
Are you catching on here? I know this is a lot to digest. I’ve probably made my point already, but lets get into the analysis and research part of what this company does.
Adulteration, dilution, and mislabeling are a concern when trying to produce therapeutic grade essential oils.
Peppermint is the most commonly adulterated oil. It is usually adulterated with cornmint, which even at 85%, it is difficult to detect.
Thorough testing is the ONLY safety net to avoid adulteration.
This company uses MANY tests to verify the purity of their oils. Hold on to your hats! Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) provides separation of marker compounds and molecular weight information which aids in component identification. The GC/MS columns that this company uses are custom and TWICE as long as the columns used by other analytical labs. Why is that important? Because not all therapeutic compounds travel the column in a short period of time. Other essential oil companies use GC/MS, but identifying adulteration is not as simple as squirting the oil into any machine and getting accurate information. GC/MS is not sufficient, within itself, to identify adulteration.
On top of GS/MS, Young Living performs automated micro-enumeration, combustibility, densitometry, disintegration testing, flashpoint, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, HPLC, ICP-MS, ICP-OES, optical rotation, refractometry, polarimetry, PH, viscometry, and microscopy.
Young Living has a full time in-house laboratory staff for performing all these tests. All incoming oils must pass testing in this lab. If a particular oil fails to meet this company’s standard, the oil is rejected. They also send samples out for third party testing. These standards have been developed over the course of 25 years.
In addition to having their own farms, this company has WORLDWIDE partners that must pass very specific requirements to produce oils that this company will accept. All partner operations are monitored and audited. Oils from these partners and oils from this company’s own farms are held to the same stringent requirements. It is a simple as that! If an oil passes testing, it then gets bottled and shipped off to the happy customers. If a lot is rejected, it is not used.
This company has 28 years in the development and discovery of essential oils for natural remedies and supplementation. It has 24 years in the farming, distillation, and analytical evaluation and study of essential oils. This company has oils, university tested and proven. They have published research papers on their oils’ effectiveness. No single essential oil company has brought more research, education, and discovery; published more papers or more books; and created more formulas and supplements with essential oils.
Let me say that again. This company produces therapeutic grade essential oils that have been university tested and proven to support ALL systems of the body! Research continues at a feverish pace. Can any other essential oil company lay claim to such a feat? No.
Does this fit my criteria for safe ingestion and overall well being? You bet! There are also countless testimonies that illustrate their effectiveness. I don’t consider any other company’s oils to be safe enough for my family. The choice is clear! The best essential oils company is Young Living. Their Seed to Seal™ process is unsurpassed!
One last thought….do I think these oils are expensive? In light of all the work listed above, NO. I think these oils are an incredible value and I’m delighted that Young Living can provide them to us at the cost that they do.
It means so much that Young Living makes the safety of our families top priority. That’s why the SCIENCE pillar is such a big deal!👨🔬
Young Living uses strict lab testing to ensure you receive pure, perfect oils. Become a Member and Save. Discover our online store. Why We Have Our Own Farms. 24% Off With Membership. CLICK HERE to learn more about becoming a Young Living Member.
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