What are "therapeutic grade" essential oils and why this term may be deceptive

No governmental or regulatory body licenses or otherwise endorses any essential oils as being of medicinal, therapeutic or aromatherapy grade.

Why This Terminology is Used

Some manufacturers unfortunately often use such misleading terms to increase their credibility among customers and to sell more essential oils at a higher price.

Here at Utama Spice, we advocate a more honest and sensible approach to emphasize an essential oil’s therapeutic qualities, rather than using a made-up “grade” or categorisation. This avoids disingenuous, false promises and instead suggests that essential oils can be used for therapeutic purposes, aroma-therapeutic applications, and in professional aromatherapy. We ensure the quality of our essential oils by sending them to third party labs to test for purity.

Essential Oils and the Perils of Puffery

Essential oils have become increasingly trendy of late, and continue to grow in popularity. As demand for them grows, more and more companies are beginning to sell them. In an effort to differentiate their offerings in a crowded market, many companies make and spread exaggerated and unverifiable claims.

For example, they may claim to sell essential oils with medicinal benefits like the ability to cure cancer and other diseases based on “personal experiences”, which are anecdotal and unverifiable. Such claims are unsubstantiated and one should always check in with their primary healthcare provider to verify such claims.

The Absence of Regulations

As there are unfortunately no standards or regulations governing essential oils -  sellers don’t have to prove their effectiveness, nor do they have to adhere to any product safety standards, or even disclose potential side-effects of use.

Without first doing research yourself, it can be potentially hazardous to trust information and claims from a retailer. Furthermore, as a consumer, one should make it your own responsibility to verify how the essential oils are sourced, how they are made, and whether they are of a certain quality. 

Purchasing Essential Oils

Be on the lookout for terms such as “nature identical oil”, “fragrance oil”, or “perfume oil”, as these may be hints that the “essential oils” on sale are not pure and single essential oils. Rather, they could be a mixture of essential oils or possibly a combination of essential oils and chemicals, which in turn could hint that the seller does not have a proper understanding of aromatherapy and essential oils.

It is highly recommended that you only buy your essential oils from a reputable company that lists all ingredients, one that does not employ hazardous processing techniques that could lead to contamination. This will help you use essential oils as they were intended to be used, while minimizing risks to yourself.

Utama Spice's essential oils are 100% pure, natural and independently tested by third party labs.