FAQS
Your top questions, answered.
$2 from each bottle sold goes to the Plant a Seed & See What Grows Foundation. This newly registered charitable organization creates opportunities for children (and adults) to experience the seed-to-table cycle of organically grown non-GMO foods, allowing them to understand and appreciate our connection with nature.
Mass spectrometry is one of the many analytical services offered by ISURA֯®. Their Mass Spectrometer is an incredibly sensitive analytical tool used to identify a full spectrum of possible contaminants such as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, heavy metals, and chemical solvents. Each compound or chemical agent has its own unique mass spectra (like a fingerprint) that can thus be easily identified. The mass spectrometer is known to identify over 212,000 substances to date and can detect at the parts per billion level.
Our own Natural Factors farms is located in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, and we refer to it as Factors Farms®.
The ingredients vary from formula to formula. The overall goal with Whole Earth & Sea is to create formulas that are from food sources whenever possible and to keep processing to a minimum. All plants are organically grown from non-GMO seeds. Also all harvests, including the herring, are sustainable.
We use only the roe from Norwegian spring-spawning herring as the source of our omega-3s. The reason being, because our roe comes from an existing fishery, it does not increase the catch. In addition, the Marine Stewardship Council certified this fishery sustainable, and herring is classified as “a species of least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
And, because our Factors Farms are free from chemical fertilizers and never use pesticides, we are protecting the earth and ground water for future generations.
Whole Earth & Sea formulas are made using nutrient-rich ingredients from plants grown on our 100% non-GMO organic farms and harvested at their peak and immediately raw processed at our facilities using EnviroSimplex® to retain the vital bioenergetic vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytonutrients, and antioxidants.
Many of them come from our farms – kale, alfalfa, spearmint, oregano, peppers, cilantro, parsley, and echinacea to name a few. If the plant is not from our farms you can rest assured that the ingredients we are using are from farmers known for their commitment to grow organically with the same care and ethical farming practices we also use. Each food source is rigorously examined for quality, prior to being used in a Whole Earth & Sea product.
Most of the vitamins and minerals in the multivitamin formulas as well as Bone Structure formula are from the fresh farm ingredients or from food sources such as organic algae (calcium), lichen (vitamin D3), sunflower oil (vitamin E), natto (vitamin K2), Indian gooseberry (vitamin C), selenium (sprouted garlic), Dunaliella salina (beta carotene), kelp (iodine), marigold flowers (lutein), and tomatoes (lycopene). Our proprietary formula also utilizes activated forms of vitamins to ensure that meaningful levels of key nutrients are delivered in the bioactive whole-food formula.
We have been growing on Factors Farms® for over 20 years and have never grown anything GMO. We make sure to choose only non-GMO seeds, and we participate in seed-saving programs.
The Factors Farms® crops are only fertilized with compost and nitrogen-rich sea plants, and are meticulously cared for by hand. No synthetic pesticides (or even permissible organic pesticides) are ever used.
Several companies market versions of what they refer to as “whole-food” vitamins. Most of the nutrients in supplements marketed as whole-food are produced by mixing (USP) vitamins and minerals with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) sugar or molasses in a big tank. After some amount of time has passed (usually 12 – 24 hours), the yeast is killed off and the material is dried off. By contrast, Whole Earth & Sea formulas use Farm Fresh Factors™ as well as other whole food sources and raw processes these nutrient-dense plants using our proprietary EnviroSimplex® technology, yielding a concentrated biomass of bioenergetic vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytonutrients.
All our raw materials are lab-tested based on ISURA® product certification standards for the natural health supplement and food industries. We use mass spectrometry and other test methods to ensure that the plant material is non-GMO, organically grown and free of solvents, pesticides, and other contaminants.
ISURA is an independent organization, not part of Whole Earth & Sea. ISURA is a product certification organization for the natural health supplement and food industries, primarily serving as an analytical competence centre for analyzing natural health products and technical materials at all stages of processing. ISURA offers a broad range of analytical methods such as mass spectrometry to ensure purity and potency of natural products. Some of the product certification services include:
- Non-GMO and organically grown
- Product potency and integrity
- Contaminant-free including pesticides, solvents, and heavy metals
The EnviroSimplex technology liquefies and mixes all raw materials in a special chamber where the bio-activation process occurs, allowing enzymes, probiotics, and prebiotics help to culture the ingredients. Then it deploys gentle agitation and gentle heat under high vacuum to extract moisture, preserve the active ingredients, shorten drying times, and protect sensitive phytonutrients. We ensure the processing temperature always stays below 48°C (118°F).
Phytonutrients (also referred to as phytochemicals) are natural compounds found in plant based whole foods that give plants their rich pigment, as well as their distinctive taste and smell. Research suggests that nutrients from whole, raw food may have a valuable holistic effect that allows key vitamins and minerals to work more effectively. EnviroSimplex intensifies each 100-g of living, whole food into a 300-milligram, enzymatically vibrant biomass.
Whole Earth & Sea formulas are made using nutrient-rich ingredients from plants grown largely on our own farms. The Farm Fresh Factors™ contains:
- Organic Active Vegetables – kale, alfalfa, cilantro leaf, parsley, caper berries, sprouted garlic, artichoke, black radish, dandelion, barley grass, pepper, oregano, peppermint, spearmint, celery seed, beet, tomato.
- Organic Cruciferous Vegetables – A broad spectrum of fully active glucosinolates and myrosinase enzymes from wasabi rhizome and fresh freeze-dried sprouted broccoli, upland cress, daikon, red radish, cauliflower, cabbage, arugula, watercress leaf.
- Ultra Fruit Polyphenols – grape, pomegranate, strawberry, cranberry, blueberry, raspberry, bilberry, Indian gooseberry, schizandra berry, red orange, acai berry.
- Herbals – Theracurmin®, organic decaffeinated green tea, organic milk thistle, organic ginger rhizome, organic echinacea.
- Organic Sea Vegetables – spirulina, chlorella, red algae, blue green algae, kelp.
The Factors Farms® are certified 100% organic. Our crops are fertilized only with compost and nitrogen-rich sea plants and meticulously cared for by hand. The plants are then harvested at their peak and raw processed at our own facilities within hours.
Because it is environmentally sound. Whole Earth & Sea uses glass bottles as well as outer packaging made from 100% recycled materials. The insert is also made from 100% recycled materials.