Sheabutter, Codina - Page Title

Codina's statement regarding organic products

To the question: "are your oils organic?"
we can answer quickly for those who want fast answers:
"some of our oils are better than organic, others are organic and some are not at all but they are still accepted by our quality control department."

For those who can spare 5 more minutes we can explain ourselves:

Codina and the organics
With the concept of "organic" products the food industry and its big advertising power is on its way to denaturate the true meaning of it. The "organic" certification is given to a certain way of cultivating products in respect for the environment and without pisticide or chemical fertilizer.

Who wouldn't agree for that?
Codina is 100% in favor of this concept and we always fought against those who spread chemical fertilizer especialy in Africa where the French government organized cotton agriculture that impoverish the soil.
But should we agree for mess up too?

Can all products get the organic certification?
When agriculture is only the remote origine of the product in our plate, we assume that the manufacturer is mainly taking advantage of the label. We do not see the accuracy of an organic product such as a salmon or a cosmetic cream. To many unknown variables interfer with the certification. In 1932 Mr Henri Ford invented a car body made of hemp. would he be allowed today to call its car an "Organic car"?

Raw materials and the importance of quality.
The fact that a product is certify 'organic" is an information regarding the way it has been produced but not an information regarding its goodness. in short, a rotten tomatoe, even organic, is not good anymore.
The selection for a good product should meet what is expected from it: freshness, good taste, texture. It is true that it is easier to find them in the organic agriculture but its is not the certification that guaranty it.

Codina's position regarding its oils and butter:
We have listed bellow the main criterion of our quality control department:

1. Respect of the common criterion that has always been followed regarding the production of oils. namely and in regards of raw materials: free fatty acid, peroxid level and humidity. for exemple a hemp seed shoudn't have more than 10% humidity.

2. The composition: a borage seed must contain at least 24% of linolenic gamma acid since this is for this fatty acid that we express the oil.

3. The oil should be free of even a trace of pesticide or fertilizer.

4. Regarding production the hierarchy is the following:
- harvest in the wild (shea nuts in Africa, coco nuts in south america)
- organic agriculture (sunflower in France for exemple)
- conventionaly grown

5. Regarding the extraction procedure:
- allways mechanical cold press if possible.
- no heating of course, but also no over pression which could increase the temperature by friction. Beside the making of olive oil the terme "cold press" should be more accurate.
- do not use traditional method that use boiling water for extraction in order to preserve active ingredients and vitamins (African sheabutter).
- whenever cold press is not possible (small seeds containing less than 10% of oil like grape seed or blackcurrent seed) make sure that there is no trace of solvant after extraction.

6. no preservatives, even if they are admited by the "organic" legislation.

Conclusion
It's easy for a big manufacturer to simplify the "organic" concept and to communicate on a convenient short message: my product is good because its organic.

The truth is a bit more complex but we engage the dialog with our customers to clarify it.

List of various substances that may be allowed in the making of organic products (but not by us):
Chlorure de sodium pour la coagulation
Carbonate de calcium
Hydroxyde de calcium
Sulfate de calcium
Chlorure de magn�sium
Carbonate de potassium
Carbonate de sodium
Acide citrique
Hydroxyde de sodium
Acide sulfurique (for suggar)
Azote
Oxyg�ne
Argon
Ethanol (as a solvant)
Acide tannique
Acide tannique
Huiles v�g�tales
Gel de silicium
etc...