%food grade certified

Food Grade Certified essential oils
Curtis Swift, Ph.D., Mesa Lavender Farms^®

Mesa Lavender Farms^® uses Food Grade Certified essential oils for our CBD oil tinctures as it is the highest quality certification available. Food Grade certification is not the same as USDA Organic and is a separate certification. This certification is under the Safe Quality Foods (SQF) program.

The Safe Quality Food Program (SQF) provides certification that guarantees the food has been manufactured in accordance with food safety best practices and meets all established requirements. The program is globally recognized.

Food Grade Certification ensures Mesa Lavender Farms^® CBD oil tinctures are not contaminated with pesticides, heavy metals, or microbes. These CBD oil tinctures are typically taken under the tongue, i.e. sublingual, and Mesa Lavender Farms^® wants to ensure anything we produce is safe. This includes Mesa Lavender Farms^® CBD oils (tinctures) which are ingested by humans, pets, and large animals.

USDA Organic Certification prohibits non-organic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers from being used in the production of the crop. This does not however, mean the processing of the buds and oil of lavender were accomplished without coming into contact with non-food grade surfaces which could cause contamination. Pesticides can linger in the soil for years or decades after they are applied. These soil contaminants can then be absorbed by lavender and accumulate in the various plant tissues.

Consequently, USDA Organic does not mean buds and essential oil are not contaminated with pesticides, or heavy metals absorbed from soil or irrigation water. USDA Organic Certification is an obligation of the grower but does not guarantee contaminant-free result.

Lavender is a great plant to use for the bioremediation of mine spoils and other soils where pesticide and heavy metal contamination is common. It is considered a hyperaccumulator of lead as well as an accumulator of cadmium and zinc. [ii] When plants are used to clean up contaminated sites this is referred to as phytoremediation. [iii] A plant referred to as a hyperaccumulator is one which concentrates metals in their above-ground tissues to levels far exceeding those present in the soil. [iv]

Lavender is a hyperaccumulator. Lavender takes in contaminates and stores them in their stems leaves and buds. Zheljazkov, et al., reported heavy metals, don’t appear to end up in the essential oil of some plants grown in contaminated soils. [v] Angelova, et al., however, found Zinc and Lead were found in very low levels in essential oil of lavender grown on heavy metal contaminated soils. Their research also found the concentration of heavy metals was much greater in the buds than the oil. Hence using buds from the same field has more potential for heavy metal poisoning when compared with essential oil to flavor brinks, and food items.

Industrial hemp is another plant very efficient in bioremediation, the reason we insist on seeing analytical data proving the CBD we used in our products is free of these contaminants.

Mesa Lavender Farms^® uses Food Grade Certified Essential Oils

Lavender is considered generally recognized as safe (GRAS), but that does not mean the products of this plant such as the buds and essential oil are free of pesticides, heavy metals, and microbes. Food grade essential oils means the product is safe for human consumption, i.e. free of these contaminates and has not encountered anything that would contaminate the product. Regardless of their certification, even food grade essential oils should not be consumed without being diluted first.

Prior to being approved to market our CBD tinctures by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, our tinctures had to be third-party tested to ensure they were free of heavy metals, microbes, and other contaminants.

Mesa Lavender Farms^® tinctures are provided in glass containers not plastic. Not all plastics are considered food grade. Our plastic containers are created with PPE as it is great for storing water and food for the long term.

Mesa Lavender Farms^® precautions are designed to ensure our products are consumer safe. The CBD distillate and Isolate used in our tinctures and other products have been third-party tested and found to be free of contaminants such as pesticides, microbes, and heavy metals. Even the nitrogen gas we use to cap our essential oils to prevent the degrading effects of oxidation is Food Grade Certified.

For a list of our CBD and non-CBD products visit us at https://mesalavenderfarms.com/shop