Cold Pressed Shea Butter is pale to yellow, with a slightly nutty aroma, which is produced by roasting the shea nuts over a wood fire. Then traditionally the shea nuts are pulverized by hand and then boiled in water for a few days. The nut solids sink to the bottom and the shea butter rises to the top in oil form and is separated and boiled again to evaporate any remaining water. Much of the color and smell come from processing the shea nuts this way. Additional Information This shea butter and my other two shea butter (refined and East African) are produced by hygienically cold pressing. In this process, they usually use natural gas to lightly roast the nuts. The roasting process is to help unlock the butter from the nut solids. Then they put the roasted nuts through an expeller that separates the solids from the butter with no additional heat. There is no water step or excessive heat for days. The end product from the cold pressing preserves more of the beneficial nutrition and makes butter with a lighter color and aroma. This nutrition, mainly vitamin E, is what determines the shelf life of the product. That is why most traditional shea butter is given an expiration of 12-24 months from manufacturing and this shea butter has a 36-month minimum shelf life from manufacturing. Sourced from a supplier as certified organic. Documents SDS   CoA-LOT: BN13322/109301/PBCoA-LOT: BN13328/109381/PBCoA-LOT: BN13256/108336/PBCoA-LOT: BN47598/PBCoA-LOT: BN31295/99296/PB CoA-LOT: BN00800/PB