A Wednesday study revealed that 60% of CBD products have incorrectly labeled active ingredients. CBD resource Leafreport released Wednesday’s study showing that more than half the CBD products that were marketed as sleeping aids had levels of ingredients like cannabidiol, cannabinol and melatonin which varied by over 10% from their labeled strength.
Leafreport, an online resource, found that over half of CBD products marketed to sleep…
Research has shown CBD and CBN, as well as other compounds, can help support healthy sleep. This has led to an increase in the number of sleep aids containing these cannabinoids. Leafreport’s research shows that less than half of all products were correctly labeled.
Leafreport, a peer-reviewed science-based website that provides information on CBD for consumers, is science-based. Through its patient-focused educational content and medical reviews, the company’s mission to bring transparency to the CBD industry is achieved by a team made up of doctors, chemists nutritionists pharmacists and naturopaths.
Three Things to Look Out For When You Choose CBD
Gal Shapira is the product manager at Leafreport and says there are three key factors that consumers need to consider when choosing CBD products.
Shapira wrote in an email that “the most important thing is to ensure the brand uses a third party testing lab and that their certificates (CoAs) are linked to the product labeling or at the least on their website.” These tests verify that the product is free of harmful contaminants and that the dosage is correct.
Shapira says, “The second thing you should pay attention to is whether the product is classified as isolate or broad spectrum.” These classifications are crucial in determining the presence or absence of THC. Consumers should also pay attention to any vitamin or supplement additives that are added to the active CBD ingredient, and whether they are listed on the CoAs.
The study tested CBD products, including capsules and tinctures, for sleep. GETTY
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Leafreport purchased 52 CBD products for the study. These included gummies and tinctures as well as capsules. The products were sent to Infinite Chemical Analysis in California for testing. There, levels of CBD, CBN, and melatonin were recorded and measured.
While there will be some variations in CBD products, they should all remain within acceptable levels. Leafreport states that industry experts recommend cannabis products contain cannabinoid levels within 10% of their label. This means that accurate CBD products should contain between 90% and 110% of their advertised cannabinoid content. To be consistent, we used the 10% benchmark even though melatonin was not considered a cannabinoid.
A Half of the products tested had inaccurate CBD levels
A mere half of the products had inaccurate levels CBN and more than half reported incorrect levels of CBD. Two-thirds of the three products containing melatonin did not match the label. Two of the three tested ingredients were more accurate than the ones containing all three. Only 29% of products matched the label. Five (55.6%) of the nine products that contained all three ingredients were able to match the label, but only one was able to do so for each ingredient.
Capsule CBD products for sleep were the most likely to contain accurate amounts of active ingredients. GETTY
The best performing product category was capsules, with half matching the label. Next came 40% of gummies and 30% of tinctures. 25 percent of the 32 CBD products that were advertised as having broad- or full-spectrum CBD were mislabeled.
Shapira stated in a Leafreport statement that “Frankly, these results are shocking” and highlighted the need for a transparent CBD industry. Consumers need to be able to see that CBD products are meeting certain quality standards before they purchase them. Leafreport is a service that helps consumers make informed decisions about the products they are purchasing.
Leafreport’s study on CBD sleep products can be found online.
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