The rise in popularity of CBD products in an unregulated market has opened the door for unscrupulous companies looking to make a quick dollar. Unfortunately, consumers easily go for products from companies that seem to provide great value or have a respectable-looking, well-designed website. This is what makes third-party CBD product testing so important.
Using 3rd Party Testing for CBD: Safety and Quality
Extracting CBD on the commercial scale is costly and we mentioned in Why is CBD Oil Expensive? just how costly it is to produce high-quality CBD oil. Products may contain residuals, pesticides, heavy metals and other things you don’t want to be ingesting or putting on your body. Those in the CBD industry usually agree that products from countries like Russia or China typically don’t go through rigorous testing and are thus generally inferior.
As a consumer, you also want to make sure you’re getting the percentage of CBD you paid for. The potency of the CBD in the product should not be far off with other high-quality product brands.
Third-party testing can also tell the consumer about the terpenes within the product, another characteristic of the CBD product you as a consumer may be curious about.
Using 3rd Party Testing for CBD for Transparency
Transparency in companies that produce or source CBD products is key. It’s hard enough to trust established brands to always do the right thing. It’s even harder to trust a brand new company in a traditionally shady industry. This is why consumers should stay away from companies that aren’t willing to invest in 3rd party testing. They should also be wary of those that are not completely transparent on how they source their materials.
Even if a company has had a good past reputation, it doesn’t mean that the products they produce will always be consistently good. This is why reputable companies have their products tested by batch. Batch numbers give the buyer some assurance that the product has the correct amount of THC and CBD and has an acceptable quality profile.
When dealing with health and wellness products, you want to make sure the company you purchased from is being transparent. Don’t hesitate to email or call to ask them the details about their products and their testing methods.
CBD Testing for Legality
The growing popularity and cultural acceptance of cannabis has led to the decline of THC screening during drug tests. However, there are still companies that insist on having their employees test for THC.
Even CBD-dominant cannabis with THC less than 1% can trigger a positive on some drug tests. Those concerned about passing drug tests should ensure that the THC levels indicated on the CBD product they are using are accurate. In these cases, the 3rd party batch testing of the CBD product you are using and your trust in the results can be the difference between you testing positive for a banned substance or not.
CBD Testing for Ethically Sourced Products
Most people are likely to have concerns about whether the CBD they are using is sourced ethically and sustainably. Because of CBD’s legal status in the US, black market products often find their way to unsuspecting consumers. Unfortunately, not only is the exploitation of illegal labor and cartel management rampant in the black market, but there is also a gross lack of concern for the quality of the CBD.
The environmental impact1 of cultivating cannabis is another concern for those who use the product. While few third-party testing companies can trace and test the source of their customers, some may disclose the origins of the products they test. This may include environmental information and the farming process the product went through.
- [Daily]Jodi Helmer. The Environmental Downside of Cannabis Cultivation
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