Turmeric rhizomes are boiled, dried in the sun until rock hard, polished and then milled. Ours is ground from Sri Lankan turmeric with a high curcumin content, which is what produces the deep orange colour rather than the pale yellow of cheaper grades.
Colour is the quickest quality test there is. Weak turmeric is pale, dusty and tastes mostly of nothing. Good turmeric is dense, deeply coloured, and smells sharp and earthy the moment the pouch is opened.
Turmeric is also one of the most adulterated spices in world trade, commonly bulked out with starch or brightened with dyes. Ours is milled from whole rhizomes with nothing added and no colouring agent.
If you want to be certain of what you are using, buy the whole fingers and grind them yourself. That option exists for a reason.
