According to a report published in the Jama Network Open, there’s been a 160.4% rise in the number of Google searches related to CBD in the past two years.
There’s no denying that CBD has managed to capture the fancy of the western world.
In the United States alone, 7% of people have already used CBD and that number is set to rise exponentially in the next couple of years.
If anything, this calls for more transparency and an industry-wide regulation to ensure that consumers get a standardized product of consistent quality.
One of the biggest challenges that customers currently face is from misleading labeling.
CBD oil and hemp oil, for example, are often put side by side in supermarket aisles in bottles that are a mirror image of each other.
Given that CBD oil is sourced from Industrial hemp, isn’t it the same as Hemp oil, which has been around for decades in the food and beverage industry?
Well, not quite.
For starters, CBD oil is extracted from the leaves and the flowers of the hemp plant.
Hemp oil, which is another name for Hemp seed oil is extracted from the seeds of the Hemp plant.
What’s the difference between Hemp & CBD?
There are differences galore.
Industrial Hemp is a multifaceted plant that is grown for a wide range of applications in a variety of industries.
From seed to stalk, every part of the plant is used to make fabrics, paper, biofuel, vegetable concrete, food and beverages, plastics and oil to name a few.
CBD is the latest addition to its ever-growing list of applications.
It is a phyto-cannabinoid or a plant-based cannabinoid that is touted to have a slew of medicinal properties. However, these cannabinoids only exist in the leaves and the flowers of the plant. Not in the seeds.
Only oil extracted from the flower and the leaves can be called CBD oil.
Hemp oil, on the other hand, is extracted from the seeds and contains a high concentration of Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids, GLA and Arginine, all extremely important for the human body.
But the seeds do not contain CBD.
In a nutshell, CBD oil contains CBD whereas Hemp seed oil does not.
How do you differentiate between the two?
That’s where manufacturers need to step up and put clearer labels on their products.
As of now, to cater to the CBD rush, many brands are painting with a broad brush and it isn’t helping at all.
You might, for example, notice a bunch of Cannabis leaves on product labels, accompanied with terms like ‘Cannabis Oil’ which may mislead you into thinking that it contains CBD by default.
But the label doesn’t emphasize whether the oil contains CBD or not.
Why would brands do this intentionally?
That’s because CBD products, like CBD oil, typically command a premium price in the market as compared to Hemp seed oil.
It’s an easy way for a brand to inflate prices.
Let the customer assume that they are in fact buying a CBD-infused product when it’s not the case.
There’s another reason why brands may do this. Cannabis-derived products like CBD are strictly regulated by the FDA.
Labeling their products as hempseed is an easy way to circumvent these laws and regulations.
There’s an easy way to know what you are buying and to avoid being fobbed off.
Just check the product label closely.
If it’s mentioned that it’s cannabis Sativa seed oil, then it does not contain CBD.
CBD oil, on the other hand, will be described as Cannabidiol oil, Full Spectrum oil, PCR (phytocannabinoid-rich) Oil or PCR Hemp oil.
The difference in the extraction processes
The other difference is in the extraction process.
CBD oil is normally extracted using CO2 supercritical extraction, steam distillation or solvent extraction which produces a full spectrum CBD oil.
It can then be distilled to isolate CBD, resulting in CBD Isolate oil, which is mixed with a carrier oil like Olive oil or Hemp seed oil to create the final product.
Hemp oil, on the other hand, is extracted by cold pressing hemp seeds.
The setup can be as simple as a basic oilseed press machine, which produces raw, unprocessed hemp seed oil that has a distinct nutty flavor and can be dark green in color. This requires the oil to be exposed to heat though which can affect its taste, flavor and nutritional value.
Cold presses, press the seeds without exposing them to heat which results in a lower phosphorus content and a clear, golden liquid instead of a dark green one. Cold-pressed hemp seed oil has a slightly higher nutritional value and a much milder flavor.
What is full spectrum CBD oil?
CBD is one of 113 odd cannabinoids found in the hemp plant.
Along with cannabinol (CBN), it is the most researched cannabinoid. But it is by no means the only one with therapeutic benefits.
As researchers delve deeper into cannabinoids, it has become clearer that the benefits of some phytocannabinoids (like CBD) are amplified when they are consumed together. It is called the Entourage effect, where one phytocannabinoid works in synergy with the other one. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165946/)
Full spectrum CBD oil may contain almost 80-113 cannabinoids including CBDA, CBDV, CBN along with terpenes, flavonoids, chlorophyll, and proteins, which give it a very unique profile as compared to CBD Isolate oil, which contains 90% CBD with most other components filtered out.
If you live in a state where CBD oil is still considered a grey area legally, you might want to recheck the legal status of Full Spectrum CBD oil before purchasing a bottle online, since it may also contain THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol.
The concentration of THC has to be below 0.3% for it to be labeled as CBD oil.
Else it’s just medical marijuana oil which may or may not be legal.