Consultant causes stink
Regulator warns against ingesting aromatherapy oils
TERRITORIANS are being urged not to eat potentially dangerous aromatherapy oils, following claims a doTerra Aromatherapy consultant advised customers at a Brinkin workshop to ingest them.
The customer, who asked not to be named, said she went to a doTerra Aromatherapy workshop at De La Plage and was encouraged to orally consume aromatherapy oils.
“I have spoken to their independent doTerra consultants (none are actually aromatherapists) – they all encourage taking the oils in your water, add it to salads and to use it in your cooking,” she said.
“It’s extreme. It takes a crazy amount of product to make a teaspoon of oil and people are consuming it like large amounts are fine.”
DoTerra Aromatherapy Australia and New Zealand general manager Adam Berry denied any wrongdoing, telling the Sunday Territorian the company did not offer or endorse the idea of eating aromatherapy oils.
However, Mr Berry said some of doTerra’s oils met the requirements of Food Stan- dards Australia and New Zealand and were classified as food flavourings or additives, and these products were safe for consumption.
“Each essential oil is clearly labelled with directions for use and there is further information on our website in our product information pages,” he said. “Any of the essential oils that come from food-based plants – lemon, basil, and rosemary for example – can be used to flavour food or drinks; there are instructions in our product information pages on the amount to use.”
A Therapeutic Goods Administration spokeswoman said consumers should exercise caution when considering taking essential oils orally.
“We would advise them to seek the advice of a healthcare practitioner before doing so,” she said.
The spokeswoman said the term “essential oils” covered a wide variety of products and applications, some of which were subject to TGA regulation.
She said essential oils used for massage or relaxation were not regulated by the TGA.
Mr Berry was unable to put the Sunday Territorian in touch with the consultant who ran the recent doTerra Aromatherapy workshop at De La Plage for further details.
Anyone looking for more information can visit tga. gov. au/ publication/ poisons-standard-susmp