Not within the definition of natural isolates, according to the Guild, are those isolates that are produced by various laboratory processes, including isolates that are produced using bacteria and fungi, or those created from other processed natural aromatic material (which can include using chemicals to process them).
The Guild Standards Committee worked through an extensive research and exploratory process to define natural isolates to a standard that reflects the mission and philosophy of both the Guild and its members. International standards were examined for the processes used worldwide in defining natural isolates. The Committee was unanimous in approval of the new standard, and the voting body of Guild members approved their recommendation by a 78% vote. This new standard adopted by the Guild exceeds the ISO 9235 standard for natural aromatic raw materials.
The definition of a natural isolate as it applies to the members of the Natural Perfumers Guild states:
A natural isolate is a molecule that was removed/isolated from a natural fragrance material, as delineated by the Guild in its definition of natural perfumery that contains the isolate. Processes that are acceptable for removing/isolation are: fractional distillations, rectifications, and molecular distillations of natural fragrance materials, also as defined by the Guild.
“This was a sensitive and deliberate process, and Guild members had many different opinions,” says Guild President Anya McCoy, "and the final vote was 78% for the least-processed isolates that were closest to the parent raw material." The Guild has updated its 2008 Definition of Natural Perfumery position paper, (which can be viewed at the link in the previous paragraph), to reflect this change. “I will be reformulating my best-selling perfume StarFlower by removing the isolate from it that I had thought was natural (in 2007).”