I wrote this 7 years ago..... still pertinent today. MORE OF A FACT CHECK THAN A RANT. The FDA (USA) has granted a GRAS to the likes of the company below. GRAS basically means 'fit for human consumption'. HOWEVER when granted GRAS status it comes with strict guidelines as Essential Oils are indeed used as food additives in the food industry for FLAVOURINGS or preservatives. These oils are normally deterpinated, meaning that they have increased bioavailability, or/and rectified, which means the 'dangerous stuff' which could be poisonous when ingested has been removed and/or fractionated to remove terpenes, like Limonene (Limonene is one of the most powerful de-greasers known and is extracted and used in many cleaning products and in the motor industry for example) .On top of this when 'essential oils' are added to food it has a MAXIMUM 'dosage' set by GRAS of 2 drops per litre of water/liquid/equivalent. So to take a drop of Lemon Essential Oil in a glass of water is way above the recommendation and has not gone through the above processes to make it safe or dispersable in water. (Think of your Jif lemon juice). Don't even get me started on reps telling people to take these oils sublingually and neat! Back to the FDA. As many of you might know, the 2 companies in question were told they must not make any medical claims that "this oil will cure that" etc. Well, we know that they still continue to do so. Technically speaking, each rep that does this should be reported to the FDA, but of course nobody does, and the FDA would need a hell of a lot of reports to take action. To get around FDA/GRAS laws/rules and regulations, they label their Essential Oils bottles as 'supplements'. Essential Oils are not supplements! Supplements mean that it has nutritional value above what you get in your food. EO's contain no nutritional value whatsoever. So to the UK. The equivalent of the FDA is the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) which is one of 7 which come under the FSA (Food Standards Agency). To have anything which is ingested in the UK you have to obtain a licence from the MHRA before you can supply to the general public. NEITHER ONE of these companies have such a license in the UK and yet continue to label their bottles as 'supplements'. I took this up with CAB...because that is where you have to start for reports to go back to the FSA or MHRA. CAB were very shocked when I gave them the photographic evidence....but did anything get done? No.

My students know that if I had to select just one essential oil to take on a deserted island it would be Marjoram. They also know that if I had to say which essential oil represents me as a person, it is also Marjoram. They also know that one of my heroe's of Aromatherapy is Daniel Penoel. " What is the first memory about your first contact with essential oils? My first memory is about marjoram (true marjoram, Origanum majorana). I was very impressed by the powerful scent of this aromatic liquid, and from that moment on, I felt that essential oils would become part of my life. So, 53 years later, it remains to be true!" Daniel Penoel So, for today's lazy Sunday ponderings, which EO exemplifies your personality?

Go on, be a devil.... tell us a little or a lot about yourself 😊, let's get to know you! Are you a novice/home user of complementary therapies or a therapist or currently a student? Rainbows, Jane

What is your favourite, go-to aromatherapy book, excluding mine 😊, and your favourite book, of any genre, that you've read several times? I'll start, my fav Aromatherapy book is the one at the front of the photo. My 'other' favourite book is To Kill a Mockingbird with Perfume on equal footing. So which are your favourites?

Hello everyone, thank you for welcoming me into the community and granting access to this valuable resource.