With CBD’s popularity growing by leaps and bounds, it is important for convenience store operators to know that the information on the labels of the edible products they are selling may not be accurate.
According to research by the Washington, D.C.-based CBD & Cannabinoid Industry Association (CBDIA), most edible CBD products — an expansive product category that includes gummies, chocolates and other items infused with CBD — don’t contain the correct amount of CBD.
Only 11 of 40 (27.5%) of the tested edible products contained CBD levels that were within 10% of the amount stated on the label, the association’s Edibles Market Report noted. Of the remaining three quarters, labels were off by as much as 11% to 177%. Most (63%) of the products looked at contained more CBD than advertised. Twelve (30%) received the worst rating, for containing 30% more or less CBD than claimed.
Interestingly, the results were not all that unexpected, the association said, since edible CBD products are more difficult to formulate than oils and contain much smaller amounts of CBD per piece. Thus, variations of even a few milligrams can have a significant effect.
“Industry experts recommend that cannabis products should have cannabinoid levels that deviate no more than 10% from the stated amount,” noted the group, which tested products from 21 brands. “This means that a high-quality CBD product should contain anywhere from 90% to 110% of the advertised CBD content.”
These days, “any serious CBD oil company sends its products for testing to an independent lab to verify their potency and safety and publishes the test results online,” the group added. “Yet it’s clear that many products on the market still don’t contain as much CBD as they should, even if they are third-party tested. We discovered as much in our two recent independent studies, where we sent CBD oils and beverages from various brands for third-party testing at Las Vegas’ Canalysis Laboratories.”
Interestingly, most of the brands that received the best rating for accuracy in labeling were relatively small or new companies, the association added, while more established brands earned lower scores.
