The emergence of cannabinoids (CBDs )as a major player in the health and wellness sectors has led to much blurring of the boundaries between medicinal cannabis, defined as medical cannabis products, cannabis products retailed as food supplements and cannabinoids used as non-health or non-food elements of wellness materials. Let’s simplify that further:
- A prescription for a cannabinoid to manage pain is medicinal cannabis
- An over the counter soft gel containing cannabinoids is a food supplement
- A ‘cannabis flavour’ vape is a non-health product that also, almost certainly, contains no CBD!
It’s obvious that medical cannabis/medical CBD products are highly tested, certified and approved, classed as drugs and available through a healthcare system that regulates their production, prescription and disposal.
It’s equally clear that recreationally focused materials described as ‘hemp flavour’ or ‘cannabis flavour’ are largely unregulated and often don’t even contain any cannabinoids.
CBDs as part of a dietary supplement are a different area and more complex area altogether. Falling between the stringent pharmaceutical regimes of medical cannabis and the largely unrestricted and un-measurable products in the recreational area, they can tend very much towards one end of that spectrum or towards the other.
Of course there are governing bodies and regulatory regimes that manage cannabinoid supplements. In the UK, for example, this falls under the Food Safety Act. In Germany it’s the German Food Supplements Regulation (NemV) in Holland, Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (or Commodities Act Guidelines on Preparation and Handling of Foodstuffs) and in the USA the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Add to this that fact that many European countries haven’t harmonised their national rulings in line with the EU General Food Law Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 and the EFSA and you have an environment in which organisational claims about purity, quality and reliability may become more important to consumers than national guidance around CBDs.
On that basis, assuming that you’re looking for food supplement quality cannabinoids rather than medical CBD, how do you find a reliable, consistent provision of dietary quality CBDs?
Exploring food based CBD options
There’s a bewildering range of cannabinoid options on the market. CBD rich hemp oil, full spectrum oils, water soluble CBD powder, CBD soft gels, CBD isolate, CBN isolate and CBG isolate to name just the most common and more powerful. There are products that claim to be THC free and products that don’t mention THC at all. Some offerings are tested by outside laboratories for a range of contaminants and others aren’t.
Finding the right product and supplier for you depends in part on understanding your own requirements. For example, are you looking for wholesale CBD for reformulation into retail products? Is there a need for bulk CBD? Do you require a guaranteed form of CBD for research purposes? Being clear about your purpose helps identify the best partner to meet your CBD needs.
So what should you look for?
Find a company that demonstrates outstanding quality control. You might establish what quality standards your potential partner adheres to. Good ones to look out for are:
- ISO9001:2015 – which focuses on quality management
- ISO22000:2018 – the internationally recognised standard for food safety, largely based on HACCP principles it defines critical control points and ensures preventive measure are in place to manage food risk
- ISO13485:2016 – which defines and offers a benchmark for medical devices, with particular focus on end-customer wellbeing.
Working with Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines is also important to guarantee the probity of any organisation working in a field as complex as CBD production.
Of course, Candropharm is fully certified in all three ISO standards and adheres closely to GMP at every stage of production.
Finally, examine their external verification, the extent to which they can demonstrate rigid independent testing and their ability to share COAs.
How to find the right CBD product
Look for an organisation that fully understands CBD processing and has innovated in the field of cannabinoid products, whether these are medical cannabis or dietary supplement CBDs.
Candropharm is an acknowledged international leader and has in its product portfolio:
- CBD rich oil tinctures
- CBD full spectrum oil tinctures
- Water soluble CBD tinctures
- CBD isolate
- CBN isolate
- CBG isolate
- THC-free distillate
- Crystallise-free distillate
- Water soluble CBD powder
- CBD soft gels.
The importance of having a range of products is twofold. First, is shows that the manufacturer is not limited to one product line, which shows they are likely to keep their manufacturing standards high and their processes up-to-date. Second, it demonstrates innovation and understanding of the rapidly changing world of CBD products which can help you, as a customer to navigate changes in legislation, customer choice and even presentation.
If you’re ready to partner with the leader in European CBD manufacture, contact Candropharm today so we can help you find the products you need to help your company grow.
