I’ve seen some articles and comments around bloggy land concerning essential oils, the various companies, and some pending lawsuits. I don’t mind questioning many of the same questions people are asking, but the level of nastiness people are spewing is unprecedented. This article is going to address SEVERAL things, so please hang on tight. It’s worth it to be aware of the legalities of the ongoing allegations to PROTECT YOURSELF.
I am not a corporate representative of doTERRA, but I am a member with doTERRA, can purchase their products, and have the opportunity to build a team of my own. I wanted to make sure I disclose this at the beginning of this article. I researched the accusations I see about doTERRA (as well as the other essential oil companies) for a year before choosing to get involved with doTERRA. My main purpose in joining doTERRA is to get the products through their loyalty rewards program and receive the benefits from doing so.
I also have a membership with Costco, but I haven’t seen anyone criticize that buying club.
Anyway, this article is to address various things I’ve seen said in multiple places. Again, I do NOT represent doTERRA Corp in my opinions. These are the thoughts I’ve had along my journey of investigating the various companies before joining doTERRA.
*Disclaimer: I am choosing NOT to link to the various blogs where I’m seeing these issues, because I don’t want to connect my blog to theirs. When blogs contain text (either by the author or in the comment sections) that *could* be suspect of LIBEL, then I choose NOT to link to that. I don’t want my blog to ‘appear’ to be perpetuating something that could put my name on a lawsuit.
doTERRA has their oils tested by a third party and they include their name, address, and Lot number of the bottles. Each bottle has a Lot number printed on the bottom. There have been other ‘third party testing’ of various essential oils and there is where I saw some inconsistencies that have garnered a lot of questions. Since, doTERRA has their Lot number clearly printed on the bottom of their bottles, if someone publicizes a test result and claims it’s from a doTERRA bottle, but the analyses report from the lab does not have a Lot number listed, then I would be suspicious of such a ‘result’.
Testing should be done from UNopened (safety seal has NOT been broken) and CLEARLY marked bottles with their ORIGINAL label on them.
It is UNethical to:
open the bottles and
pour them into different bottles
There is NO REASON to do this. It raises concerns that the bottles being sent are not holding the exact contents that were in the initial product packaging.
Communication must be of high standards. If a blogger testing EOs wants to insist the vendors conduct themselves with high integrity, but doesn’t do the same, I would be suspicious of their behavior.
If there’s an email conversation:
the entire conversation must be shown.
Screenshots are easy to make. Why not show the entire conversation?
When contacting companies for their response to a test, give them more than 2 days to respond before you publish your so called results. Two days is not an ethical amount of time to expect a corporation to respond when they have their inboxes filled with all kinds of requests. Especially when questioning something that could require a lawyer to look over before they respond. Even the US court system gives people up to 6 weeks to respond to a complaint from a lawyer.
When you choose a third party chemist to conduct your tests, it would be BEST if you didn’t use the chemist from YOUR company/school. That is not an accurate third party testing protocol. This would be like asking a politician if their motives are pure and believing them at face value.
When asking for an authority in essential oils to give commentary on essential oil tests or even the statistics surrounding this topic, it is of HIGH VALUE to quote from several authorities (and NOT just the ones who work for you, your company, or your school). Using only people from your own company/school as the authorities on this topic is BIASED. Include several authorities in the field who work independently from an essential oil company or essential oil school.
Claiming a chemist is world renowned, but has no references to the world outside his own lab, no one outside your little circle has even heard of him, has no LinkedIn page, his name can’t be found in Google searches other than on your blog and your school’s website, and who’s lab can’t even be found by Google maps, seems to be ..well… in this tech age I found it difficult to believe that someone who is “world renowned” would have NO digital footprint.
There has been some confusion over the quality of doTERRA’s peppermint essential oil and accusations of ethyl vanillin allegedly being added to their bottles.
“doTERRA had an independent lab test four unopened samples of doTERRA peppermint oil retained for quality-testing purposes. The samples were from the same lots as those that a competitor purportedly sent to other labs for testing. This new testing focused on a synthetic compound that was alleged to be in our oil and looked for traces as low as .001%. The results conclusively show that no trace of the synthetic compound was found in the doTERRA samples tested.” ~David at Product Support (screenshot) Test Certificate Here.
You can see in this test certificate that the Lot number, company name and address are all clearly listed. This reveals *who* SENT the oil to the lab to begin with. Check for that on other ‘lab results’ you see on other sites. Who sent the oils and what is the Lot number?
I applaud consumers who want to conduct third party testing to compare the results to those being published by different essential oil companies, but let it be done HONESTLY.
It’s VERY EASY to misrepresent various companies and paint a picture of them that isn’t accurate. It’s similar to the ‘telephone game’. One statement is made by ear to one person and by the time it gets around to the last person, the purity of the conversation has been tainted.
When one person alone:
conducts third party testing,
opens bottles (in the privacy of their own home),
pours them (without supervision) into different bottles,
has them tested by their own chemist,
claims they alone know which bottle contained which company’s oils,
and publishes bits and pieces of conversations that are not verifiable,
…then I suspect they could be painting an inaccurate portrait of companies. This seems like an unethical practice.
doTERRA purchases their oils from suppliers in various countries where the plants are grown and harvested in their natural habitat. Therefore, I can thoroughly understand and appreciate the three methods of testing they go through to be sure their suppliers are giving us the best they can offer. Should a supplier not yield a quality of oil that doTERRA considers CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® (according to their standards) then they can refute the batch.
Other companies might have their own land with their own plants all under the ‘roof’ of their own label. They have sole control over their product. Should their products not meet their in-house standard, who’s going to know if the batch was refused?
I would LIKE to see someone conduct third party testing that is as clean, clear, and as highly ethical as possible. It would be beneficial for several EO authorities to see the results (without company names) and give their commentary on the results.
Furthermore, the person delivering test results, and trying to explain to average consumers what those results mean, should be someone who has many years experience as a chemist. Not an average essential oil student/consumer with just a few months enrollment in an online school.
The question of “therapeutic grade” has been posed by MANY and several companies claim to have “therapeutic grade” essential oils. There is no standard for this kind of regulation. (See what the FDA really says about essential oils.) As a matter of fact, the term ‘certified pure therapeutic grade’ can’t even be trademarked. However, “CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade®” was trademarked.
But before I get into that, lets break down each word:
CERTIFIED: The term ‘certified’ (in general) tends to be a vague kind of affirmation of receiving some sort of teaching or completion of a course that can be verified. By definition it means “officially recognize (someone or something) as possessing certain qualifications or meeting certain standards” Those standards are typically set by whoever handles the certification of anything and sometimes the certification comes from another party. Essential Oil companies that have ‘certified’ oils may or may not receive a test certification from an outside lab to show them the quality of their oils. Ask where their testing certifications are from. In the link I shared earlier in this article, you will see the test certificate doTERRA received for the 4 batches they had tested.
PURE: Each company has their own standards by which they feel each oil is relatively in ‘range’ for being considered ‘pure’ or good enough to be used therapeutically. Pure is a word that allows for some room to be flexible. My understanding is that by law, only 52% of the “oil” has to be a true essential oil. The rest of the bottle can remain diluted with almond oil or jojoba oil. An oil that has 52% genuine essential oil and the rest of the bottle filled with genuine jojoba oil is still considered “pure oil”. I’ve used essential oils like this before and I knew this prior to buying it. The packaging and claims the company put on their bottle didn’t raise any concerns for me. The main reason being that I know this field is not regulated. So it is at MY OWN risk and my own choice to purchase essential oils.
THERAPEUTIC: The next term is ‘therapeutic’ and I understand why this term can cause quite a stir in the medicinal community. We tend to think of therapeutic as being something that heals some sort of ailment. Since the FDA and the FTC have specific guidelines on who can say what about anything medicinal, this term is suspect by many.
Here’s why I have no problem with the term, each individual person can say they received healing from any source they choose. As a testimonial, consumers CAN say they feel their overall wellness has improved since using essential oils, eating raw foods, or by using crystals for that matter.
Many folks believe they receive supernatural healing from God. Who are we to question how they were healed? Isn’t the point that *they are improving their wellness* the important factor here? I use essential oils and herbs to improve my spiritual wellness and that kind of healing is quite therapeutic for me. People can question me all they want, but they can’t DISprove the improvement in my personal wellness.
I think it’s best to say, “essential oils support my wellness” rather than make claims that could land me in court. In fact, I’d rather not sound anything like the funky infomercials I see on television.
(By the way, did you know a nutrition blogger (and 50 others) in Carolina has been dragged into court by his own state over “advice” he gave on his blog? Use caution.)
GRADE: The final term is ‘grade’. This term is descriptive of the level of quality. Just as you would receive an A-grade on an exam. Simple enough?
So back to the “CPTG Certified Therapeutic Grade®” trademark. Anyone can check on the status of a Trademark. This is when companies submit text (and/or graphics) to be used in their business model to protect their business. Any smart company will do this ASAP to insure their terms aren’t used elsewhere and confused with other brands. Other companies that have protected their investments range from popular coffee shops to golden arches above their hamburger stands. This is nothing new in the business world.
You can go to the US Trademark website to search their database for any product, text, or company that uses this term (or any other term). When you search this term that doTERRA uses you’ll find a lot of valuable information.
First of all, the category this term was sent into encompasses a wide array of uses from body products to food additives.
“Essential oils; Essential oils for household use; Essential oils for personal use; Lavender oil; Massage oil; Massage oils; Natural essential oils; Aromatherapy oils; Bath oils; Body oils; Cosmetic oils; Cosmetic oils for the epidermis; Essential oils for flavoring beverages; Essential oils for food flavorings; Essential oils for use in manufacturing of gelcaps and other dietary supplements; Essential oils for use in the manufacture of scented products; Oils for cleaning purposes; Oils for toiletry purposes; Skin and body topical lotions, creams and oils for cosmetic use; Food flavorings prepared from essential oils; Oils for perfumes and scents; Peppermint oil; Perfume oils; Tanning oils.”
They also add a disclaimer:
“NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “CERTIFIED PURE THERAPEUTIC GRADE” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN”
This means that doTERRA (or any other company for that matter) CAN NOT have the *exclusive* right to use the term, “certified pure therapeutic grade”.
If your favorite essential oil company has the Trademark, Registered, or Copyright symbol on their products, but those products do NOT show in the US Trademark office, I would inquire as to why they are promoting them as such when they don’t appear to be in the US Trademark database (maybe they’re pending?).
Essential Oils do NOT have a governing agency to verify quality and opinions can vary from one authority to another. This is an ONGOING field of study, research, and testing. What one authority (or company) claims can vary between them all.
In a perfect world, we would have truly 100% pure, safe, and healthy essential oils, strawberries, corn, dairy, green beans, and vegetable oil. Oh, but we don’t live in a perfect world. So we do the best we can with what we’ve got and strive to improve the quality of everything we put into our bodies.
As far as the lawsuits go, NONE OF US KNOW ANYTHING until the COURTS decide about the allegations. So until then, it’s best to not get involved at the legal level. Do what you can to AVOID being dragged into a defamation lawsuit. Be cautious of what you publish on the internet. (and did you know you could be SUED for LIBEL if you allow comments that perpetuate defamation? Don’t let people gossip in your comment section.)
Like I said at the beginning of this article, I am a Wellness Advocate with doTERRA, however it makes no difference to me if you believe what I’m saying here or not. Check with a lawyer on your own and double check anything I’ve said here. I don’t mind. If I am found to be inaccurate, I will make the necessary edits. I’m not going to convince you of anything (pro or con) about the various companies that sell essential oils. You can do your own thinking, research, and ask a lawyer or doctor if you want to. You alone are responsible for what you believe.
Part One: Calling All Essential Oil and Natural Path Advocates
Part Two: What does the FDA say about Essential Oils?
Part Three: How Emotions Affect our Blog Content
Part Four: Natural Healing Collaborative
Part Five: Top Tips from my 20 years with Multi-Level Marketing Companies
*Disclaimer: As an Wellness Advocate I provide my personal opinion and experiences with essential oils, and am not endorsed by dÅTERRA Corporate. None of what I testify of has been evaluated by the FDA, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. I am not a registered medical professional and I encourage you to discuss your health concerns with your own doctor. I simply share resources and tools to raise consumer awareness. Read my full disclaimer here.
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