The American Emu Association (AEA) does not endorse nor recommend any one method of refining emu oil. However, whatever method is used must result in a safe, pure, unadulterated emu oil product that follows the specifications of the Emu Oil Trade Rules, that the consumer can easily identify, and that meets consumer expectations for that Grade.

Formed in 1989, the American Emu Association (AEA) is a national, non-profit agricultural association dedicated to the emu industry. The Emu Oil Trade Rules were written and recently updated by the AEA to establish a grading system for emu oil and to identify standards that assure that your emu oil is safe, pure, and unadulterated. These Rules do not state nor imply which refining method is best. Another AEA initiative, the AEA Certified Emu Oil Program, was written to establish quality control measures for a business to market pure emu oil with the AEA Certified Fully Refined® seal and corresponding verbiage. This would assure consumers that they are buying pure emu oil that has been refined to meet the Emu Oil Trade Rules specifications for safe, pure emu oil.

Any business in America that wishes to sell pure emu oil is not required to become a member and follow these rules. But, it can be an asset to do so, because consumers are becoming more educated about the various grades and uses for emu oil. Consumers are now expecting top quality and usually ask for it, making their purchase decisions based upon it.

There is continuing controversy about which is the best refining method. Sometimes statements are made that say or infer that the AEA recommends one method over the other. That is not the AEA’s position. “The AEA’s goal for the national emu oil industry is to establish rules to produce and market a safe, pure, and unadulterated emu oil regardless of the refining method used,” states Tony Citrhyn, AEA’s President, “Emu oil needs to be identifiable to reduce and eliminate fraudulent business practices where companies have been marketing and selling blended and adulterated emu oil as pure emu oil.”

There is no secret to what these rules and specifications are to produce a safe, pure, unadulterated emu oil. The information is found in the Emu Oil Trade Rules. This is also true for the businesses who wish to use the AEA Certified Fully Refined® seal and corresponding verbiage to market their emu oil—see AEA Certified Emu Oil Program. The Emu Oil Trade Rules and the AEA Certified Emu Oil Program were recently updated to include the fatty acid profile to be required on the batch testing analysis. The fatty acid profile helps to identify and differentiate between pure emu oil and other types of animal and plant oils. This update was done because cases were questioned and tested where emu oil had been adulterated or cut with other types of oils; and then marketed and sold as pure emu oil. Not only are consumers dissatisfied when the product does not work as expected, but this unethical misrepresentation of pure emu oil hurts the integrity of many legitimate companies in the emu industry.

The AEA does not intend to make these programs confusing to understand or difficult to comply with, nor to put undue burden on any business or company to follow these programs. Again, it does not matter what kind of refining method is used. The objective of the two programs is to produce safe, pure, unadulterated emu oil that is identifiable as such. The consumer can pick a bottle off the shelf and be assured it is pure emu oil if it labeled with the AEA Certified Fully Refined® emu oil seal.