GCC - Gritman Classification Code

How To Read The Label

1. 1 Common Name of Essential Oil or Absolute
2. 2 Scientific Name
3. 3 Country of Production
4. 4 Grade which can be:
• Kosher, Certified: Certified by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
• Organic, Certified: Certified by Independent Third Party.
• Premium: Pure and Natural. Not Reconstituted or Blended.
• Standard: Modified or Enhanced for Commercial Applications.
• Wild: Grown and Collected from the Wilderness, not Cultivated.
5. 5 Gritman Classification Code (GCC), See below.
6. 6 Border Color: Indicates quantity.
• Purple: Net 1/3 oz - 10 ML
• Green: Net 1/6 oz - 5 ML
7. 7 Band Color: Grade.
• Yellow: Kosher.
• Orange: Organic.
• Green: Premium.
• Brown: Standard.
• White: Wild.
8. 8 UPC Code.
9. 9 Quantity.

To enable our customers to make better informed decisions about our oils, we have developed this proprietary scheme for classifying Essential Oils, Absolutes, Concretes and other related products, based on how they are processed. This is called the Gritman Classification Code (GCC). It is not so trivial as the field is so complex.

Each oil must be taken individually and differences to preference may occur between professionals. Sometimes it is desirable to have an oil rectified, sometimes not. The Citrus when cold pressed have coumarins in them, which are phototoxic. If they are distilled, the coumarins are removed and many consider this to be a safer oil, while others would consider it tampered. What we will do is give you the information you need to select the best oil for you. You decide.

1. PROCESSES: Methods Used to Produce Essential Oils.
2. BLENDING: Using a combination of natural or synthetic oils to copy or create a new blend or fragrance.
   
   • BN - Blending, Natural: All components in the blend are natural.
   • BS - Blending, Synthetic: One or more component is synthetic.
3. RECONSTITUTING: Blending a combination of natural or synthetic chemicals to mimic the composition of an essential oil as found in nature, e.g. Melissa & Yuzu.
• RN - Reconstituting, Natural: All components in blend are natural (from other plants).
• RS - Reconstituting, Synthetic: One or more components are synthetic.
4. DISTILLING: Extracting essential oils by distillation producing the volatile parts of a plant, Essence (oil soluble) & Hydrosol (water insoluble).
• DD - Distilling, Dry: Extracting essential oils by heating within a vacuum.
• DE - Distilling, Destructive: Extracting essential oils by heating wood or plant within a confined enclosure.
• DF - Distilling, Fermentation: Extracting essential oils by soaking in warming water and allowing a fermentation process to begin.
• DS - Distilling, Steam: Extracting essential oils by steam distillation. Used for most essential oils.
• DW - Distilling, Water: Extracting essential oils by boiling in water.
FRACTIONATION: Additional processing of essential oils to remove "undesirables".
• FF - Fractionation, Folding: Oil is re-distilled removing some but not all of the terpenes in the oil.
• FT - Fractionation, Terpeneless: Oil is re-distilled and all terpenes are removed.
• FR - Fractionation, Rectification: Part(s) of the oil is removed using re-distillation, heating or chilling.
5. LIQUID SOLVENT EXTRACTION: Extracting essential oils using liquefied gases.
• LC - Liquefied Cooling Extraction: Oils are dissolved in gas liquefied by cooling. Oils are then recovered by evaporating the liquefied gas, e.g. CO2.
• LP - Liquefied Pressurized Extraction: Oils are dissolved in gas liquefied at room temperature by compression. Oils are then recovered by evaporating the liquefied gas, e.g. 1,1,1,2 - tetrafuoroethane.
6. PRESSING: Extracting oil from the plant by applying pressure. Citrus Oils are usually extracted this way.
• PC - Pressing, Cold: A certain amount of heat is used to help release the oil, usually not higher than 60-80oC (140-176oF). Above this temperature the process cannot be classified as cold expression.
• PH - Pressing, Hot: In hot expression, temperatures can go up to 200oC (392oF).
7. STRETCHING: Adjusting or altering the oil. This is a legitimate practice in food processing & perfumery to stretch or standardize the smell or taste of an oil.
• SN - Stretching, Natural: Stretching by adding natural products such as alcohol, terpenes from other oils, cheaper oils such as lemongrass in citronella, or Lavandin in Lavender.
• SS - Stretching, Synthetic: Stretching by adding a colorless or odorless synthetic product such as adding synthetic Thymol to Red Thyme.
8. V SOLVENT EXTRACTION: Extracting delicate oils that can be damaged by distillation or other methods using solvents to dissolve the oils.
• VC - Concrete: Plant materials such as leaves, flowers, roots, or stems are dissolved in hydrocarbons, usually Hexane producing a solid, wax-like material after removing the solvent. Rose concrete is an example.
• VA - Absolute: Absolutes are extracted from concretes using alcohol which is later removed. Violet Leaves is an example.
• VO - Oil: Plant materials such as seeds are first crushed and dissolved into solvents. Hexane is the most commonly used. The solvent is evaporated under vacuum to yield the oil. Black Cumin Oil is an example.
• VR - Resinoid: Resinoids are resins dissolved in a solvent such as benzene or alcohol. Resins are natural solid or semi-solid substances produced by plants or trees. Vanilla Oleoresin is an example.
• VW - Water soluble concentrate: Oils are first extracted with alcohol, then the alcohol is removed leaving the oils suspended in a water base. The alcohol trace left is comparable with alcohol-free drinks. Vanilla concentrate is an example.
• VE - Alcohol Extraction: Plants are soaked in alcohol and water—some essential oils will be present, but extracting is primarily water and alcohol.
9. GRADES:
• GK - Grade Kosher: Certified, Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
• GO - Grade Organic: Certified by Independent 3rd Party.
• GP - Grade Premium: Pure and Natural. Not reconstituted nor blended.
• GS - Grade Standard: Modified or Enhanced for Commercial use.
• GW - Grade Wild: Grown/Collected from the Wild.