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Scanning CBD for security — why is third-party lab testing so important?
New CBD customers often assume the US hemp industry is federally regulated. After all, the 2018 US Farm Bill legalized the sale of hemp-derived products. Doesn’t that mean the FDA put together standard testing protocols for this market?
In reality, the legal hemp market is still in a “Wild West” phase. Or, perhaps a better historical analogy is the “Gold Rush.”
You see, since there’s such high demand for CBD oil, it has attracted a lot of bad actors into the marketplace. Plus, since there’s little federal oversight on hemp products, it’s relatively easy for farmers to pass inferior hemp extract for “high-quality CBD.”
Thankfully, there are ways customers could screen the reliability of CBD products. The best way to ensure you’re getting legitimate CBD products is to scan a company’s third-party lab results. Indeed, if you can’t get your hands on these crucial lab analyses, chances are you’re not getting the best CBD on the market.
Why Are Third-Party Lab Results Crucial For CBD Oil?
In light of the current regulatory environment (or lack thereof), CBD manufacturers must take quality control screenings into their own hands. However, that doesn’t mean CBD companies should test their products in-house. Sure, some manufacturers may produce reputable lab results on-site, but how could customers trust such inherently biased tests?
To avoid this obvious conflict of interest, most of today’s top CBD businesses send their hemp extracts to third-party labs. Since the analysts at these labs aren’t invested in the CBD client’s business, they have no reason to fudge the results. On the contrary, a high-quality lab has every incentive to provide the most accurate screenings possible.
Providing this extra layer of trust is critical in the highly unregulated CBD market. Unfortunately, there have been many cases where companies promote CBD products that don’t live up to their ads. In fact, an independent investigation published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 70 percent of CBD products make at least one false claim.
Not knowing what’s in your CBD products could have significant legal and health implications. For instance, CBD products with over 0.3 percent delta-9 THC don’t meet the federal definition of legal hemp. Today, many marijuana-extracted CBD products are masquerading as federally legal hemp oils.
Also, it’s common for many untested CBD products to contain high traces of heavy metals, pesticides, or additives. Hemp can easily absorb toxic compounds from the soil if growers aren’t careful. While many reputable hemp farmers use sustainable gardening practices, it’s impossible to know how clean their CBD is without a third-party test.
What Should CBD Customers Look For In Third-Party Lab Results?
The first-time customers see a CBD company’s Certificate of Analysis (COA), it may look a bit confusing. However, after you scan the paperwork for a few minutes, you shouldn’t have a problem picking out the essential data points.
First off, you should always double-check the posted delta-9 THC levels. If you have a full-spectrum CBD oil, this THC percentage should never go above 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Customers with broad-spectrum or CBD isolate should see “zero” or “non-detectable traces” next to THC.
FYI: “non-detectable” is often listed as “ND.”
It’s also crucial to ensure all heavy metals, pesticides, and insecticides were scanned for. You should see “non-detectable” by all of these chemicals.
After you’ve verified your products are pure, it’s time to take a closer look at the CBD percentage. Since CBD is non-psychoactive, there’s no legally-required limit of CBD that could be in a hemp oil.
So, when you’re looking at a COA’s CBD test results, it’s most important to compare them with the company’s advertised CBD percentages. If the two numbers match, then you know you’re working with a reputable CBD vendor.
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Can’t Get A COA? Walk Away!
Third-party lab results bring transparency into the chaotic CBD market. Indeed, now that these tests have become standard in the industry, customers should seriously question why a business would refuse to get one. If a CBD company won’t give you third-party lab results, then there’s probably something fishy going on.
At Real Tested CBD, we strive to provide customers with the most reliable scientific data available on hemp brands. For this reason, we place crucial emphasis on verifiable, third-party lab results. If a CBD company can’t provide a reputable COA, then it’s not worth your hard-earned money.
