Why We Test Every Batch, Not Just Every Product
A GC/MS report from one batch does not tell you anything about the next batch. Here is why batch-level testing is the only meaningful standard.
Some essential oil brands publish a single GC/MS report for each product and use it indefinitely. This is a marketing practice, not a quality assurance practice. The compound profile of an essential oil can vary significantly between batches, even from the same supplier and the same species, due to differences in harvest timing, weather conditions, distillation parameters, and storage.
Why batches vary
Plant chemistry is not constant. The concentration of aromatic compounds in plant material varies with the season, the age of the plant, the soil conditions, and the weather in the weeks before harvest. A lavender crop harvested after a dry summer will have a different compound profile than the same crop harvested after a wet summer. A distillery that adjusts its steam pressure or distillation time will produce a different oil from the same plant material.
What batch testing catches
Batch-level testing catches adulteration that may have occurred at any point in the supply chain. It also catches natural variation that may affect the performance of the oil in a formulation. If a batch of tea tree oil shows terpinen-4-ol below 35%, it does not meet the ISO standard regardless of what previous batches showed.
Our testing protocol
Every batch of oil we receive is tested by an independent third-party laboratory before it is offered for sale. The GC/MS report for the current batch is published on the product page. When a new batch arrives, the report is updated. We do not use historical reports to represent current stock.