Popularization
31 August 2015
Alexis St-Gelais, M. Sc, Chimiste – Popularization Essential oils are worth quite a lot of money. It so happens that, in order to boost profits, unscrupulous people alter oils in various ways. This “Adulterants and you” series is there to introduce you to some of the adulterations we encounter. This is because not all of
Popularization
4 June 2015
Hubert Marceau, chemist, B.Sc. I have recently been asked if it was possible that diethyl phthalate be naturally present in an essential oil, more precisely in a Cyperus scariosus sample where about 5% of DEP was detected. Here is our answer: Bioaccumulation of DEP in plant. There have been a nice review, a bit aged
Popularization
20 April 2015
Laurie Caron, chemist, M.Sc. – Popularization In the last few weeks, I saw many discussions on LinkedIn/Facebook groups about aromatherapy. Some people seem to be highly concerned by this subject and they want to know how to use essential oils safely. So, I asked myself what was my knowledge about this topic? First of all,
Popularization
15 March 2015
Alexis St-Gelais, M. Sc., chimiste – Popularization We have previously seen a worked example of essential oil analysis. Hydrosols can be analysed in about just the same way as essential oils. Yet, there is one huge difference between a pure essential oil and an hydrosol: the latter is always a solution. This implies some specific
Popularization
14 February 2015
Alexis St-Gelais, M. Sc., chimiste – Popularization Any business in the field of natural substances production (encompassing health products, extracts, refined phytochemicals, herbs, essential oils, and anything comprising one of these ingredients) will eventually have to take a stand about the kind of quality control that should be performed on its products. In many cases,
Popularization
9 January 2015
Laurie Caron – Popularization In recent months, a particular topic emerged in the media: food fraud. But what is it? By definition, there is food fraud when food is marketed with intentional misleading information to the consumer1. An example of a rather eloquent fraud, nicknamed “Horsegate“, took place in 2013 in Europe. Frozen meals