NOW Foods Neem Oil

Native to southern India, the use of Neem Oil dates back to 4000 B.C. where it was often referred to as Sarva Roga Nivarini, or "the curer of all ailments". Mild, nourishing, and naturally rich in fatty acids, Neem Oil has been known to help relieve dry, itchy skin and serves as a wonderful addition to moisturizing creams, lotions, shampoos & conditioners and body wash formulas. Neem Oil has similar therapeutic properties as tea tree. NOW Neem Oil is 100% Pure, cold-pressed and solvent-free. Neem Oil is a pure oil that is derived from wildcrafted Neem seeds.

• 100% Pure & Natural
• Azadirachta indica
• Soothing Relief
• Cold-Pressed

What are essential oils?
Essential Oils are the naturally occurring volatile oils obtained by steam distillation or cold pressing (expression), having the characteristic aroma of the plant part from which it was derived. These 100% pure oils are "neat", meaning they have not been processed, diluted or manipulated in any way with solvents or other additives. Although a particular species of plant harvested and distilled for its essential oil during a particular growing season in a specific region may produce a fragrance that differs from the same species grown in a different region, many of the main chemical markers and physical specifications may be very similar. NOW's citrus fruit essential oils are 100% cold pressed. NOW's other essential oils are typically 100% steam distilled.

Do essential oils have a grading system to tell me which is better?
There is no official grading system that grades essential oils as A, B, C or Therapeutic grade. All NOW 100% pure essential oils are accurately labeled as such and are the highest purity and quality available.

Are NOW essential oils pure or do they have anything added to them?
All of NOW 100% pure essential oils are labeled as such. NOW also sells clearly labeled oil blends that are formulated with essential oils or absolute extracts and another oil as a base, usually pure grapeseed oil. Natural Essential Oils by their very nature will vary slightly from season to season. NOW allows nature to take its course and do not add isolated compounds to the oil to try to standardize the naturally occurring variations of a particular oil. NOW takes both the organoleptic (sight, smell and taste) and chemical properties into account when selecting and testing NOW essential oils.

Essential Oils are mixtures of aromatic chemicals present in plant material such as leaves, buds, flowers, fruit, bark, root, or wood, and are comprised of various terpenes, acids, aldehydes, alcohols, esters, and ketones. Nearly all essential oils are obtained by physical means, with most essential oils obtained by the process of steam distillation of plant materials, and Citrus Oils by the process of “cold pressing” of the fruit. There are a few essential oils obtained using chemical solvent extractions. These products are termed “concretes” and “absolutes”, and are identified as such on the label. This discussion will center on the physical processes of steam distillation and cold pressing.

Steam distillation is a three-step process comprised of the following:

• 1. The plant material is placed on a screen in a steam still. Steam from a boiler is introduced under the screen where the plant material is held. The steam vaporizes the essential oil in the plant material. Both steam and oil vapor rise to a condenser.
• 2. The steam and oil are condensed to a liquid, and fed to a receiving vessel.
• 3. The essential o:" ":he following:
  • 1. The whole fruit is scarified, which means the peel or rind is mechanically pierced to open the sacs containing the essential oil.
  • 2. The whole fruit is then pressed which squeezes out the juice and oil.
  • 3. The oil and juice, which contains the peel and other fruit solids, are centrifuged to separate the liquids and solids.
  • 4. The oil liquid layer is then separated from the juice liquid layer.
  Further physical processing of either the steam distilled or cold pressed essential oils, such as filtering, winterizing, or distillation, may follow to clarify or rectify them by removing any debris, waxes, etc. In no instance is the use of chemical solvents permitted for products labeled as 100% pure essential oils, nor are any chemical additives permitted to enhance (adulterate) the oils. All of NOW’s Essential Oils are produced utilizing only steam distillation or cold pressing with no additional ingredients. NOW also sells a few Essential Oil Blends, which are clearly labeled as diluted with additional oils.
  
  NOW's Mission
  The NOW mission is - To provide value in products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives. NOW Foods is an award-winning and highly respected manufacturer of vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements and natural foods.
  
  In 1948, with the natural food and supplement industry in its infancy, entrepreneur Paul Richard paid $900 for the purchase of Fearn Soya Foods—a Chicago based manufacturer of grain and legume-based products. This began a six-decade legacy of providing health-seeking consumers with high-quality, affordable nutrition products.
  
  History of NOW
  In 1968, NOW Foods was founded under the belief that good health was not a luxury available only to the wealthy. For the past forty years, NOW has made it their life's work to offer health food and nutritional supplements of the highest quality, at prices that are fair and affordable to all those who seek them. Today, NOW Foods is one of the top-selling brands in health foods stores, an award-winning manufacturer, a respected advocate of the natural product industry, and a leader in the fields of nutritional science and methods development. And while NOW has grown considerably over the past four decades, one thing has never changed – NOW's commitment to providing products and services that empower people to lead healthier lives.
  
  NOW Commitments
  • Customer Focused and Information Driven - NOW believes that their products, services, and the decisions they make should be primarily influenced by the desires and needs of NOW customers. The decisions that NOW makes should be based on accurate information and therefore NOW places a high value on knowledge and learning within their organization.
  • Quality and Value Oriented - Acting in the best interest of NOW customers, NOW endeavors to produce the highest quality products at competitive prices. NOW's first priority is to maintain quality where it counts the most – in the products. NOW's exceptional cost-conscious team of employees then focuses their energies on driving costs down. Nurturing this competency of value drives NOW's ability to provide high quality products at the very best prices.
  • Natural is Better - NOW is convinced that natural products are better than their synthetic counterparts and produce better results in human health. Therefore, wherever possible, NOW strives to provide products that contain natural ingredients because they are better for their customers.
  NOW Science
  NOW's experienced professional and technical staff formulate:" ":ucts to be effective for the intended use. NOW's structure/function claims are based on science for active ingredients, and on nutritional science for nutritional content. Serving sizes are based on doses from clinical studies and other published data. NOW's contemporary formulas are designed to meet the health and wellness needs of today’s consumers. NOW uses ingredients that have been tested for effectiveness in clinical trials and laboratory studies. The heart of NOW science is third party independent research. NOW investigates and review clinical studies and other lab studies conducted on their ingredients and their formulas. Best science is used to support best formulations which lead to best quality. NOW products are constantly being tested in clinical trials conducted at top universities and research centers around the country and in various parts of the world. NOW products are being tested to determine such things as effectiveness for joint support, quality of life for cancer patients, cardiovascular support, and athletic endurance. Effective products mean health and wellness benefits, which mean quality.
  
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  NOW’s GMP certification covers standard operating procedures, employee training, product specifications, expiration dating, vendor certifications and much more. Standard operating procedures include sampling and testing incoming materials according to NOW Foods specifications, inspecting manufacturing processes, and testing finished products to specifications. Tests include organoleptic evaluation (human senses such as sight, taste, smell), physical testing of tablets and capsules, chemical identity of ingredients, potency and contamination testing by the company’s in-house state-of-the-art analytical testing lab, as well as microbiological testing by NOW Foods’ in-house rapid analysis microbiological lab.