Health

How CBD Products Are Tested To Ensure Quality

The CBD industry is booming with a vast number of consumers looking to this hemp extract for its beneficial effects. However, how can you be confident that the product you are buying is, in fact, high-quality CBD?

Cannabinoid content is lab-tested by reputable vendors like Canzon to ensure quality control. The CBD test quality of a product is important, but there are other elements in hemp-derived oils, balms, isolates, and e-liquids that are also important to know and understand.

Full-spectrum CBD includes a variety of elements in it, including terpenes and other plant matter. Reputable vendors test their products rigorously to ensure their CBD doesn’t contain harmful elements like heavy metals or pesticides.

What Is CBD?

The simplest explanation of CBD, or cannabidiol, is that it is a hemp extract. In hemp, CBD is one of the most prevalent cannabinoids, while tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is higher in strains of cannabis sativa called cannabis.

CBD is celebrated worldwide for its ability to help maintain wellness and manage daily stress by promoting a natural sense of calm. Scientists are still conducting studies to determine the full potential of CBD. Some studies indicate that it may be able to help certain anxiety disorders and can be used to treat pain. More testing is needed to produce conclusive results, however.

Unlike THC, CBD does not produce any psychoactive effects. Furthermore, full-spectrum CBD simply means that the oil or product also contains all the natural cannabinoids and terpenes that also occur in the hemp plant.

CBD can also be purchased in CBD isolate, which is 99% pure CBD with no other compounds. The isolate form is powdery or crystalline. One reason why some consumers prefer full-spectrum over isolates is that full-spectrum products deliver what is known as the entourage effect.

However, for those who are regularly drug tested for work, CBD isolates are a great way to still experience the benefits of CBD without ingesting any THC.

Terpenes and the Entourage Effect

The entourage effect is the term used to describe the CBD, cannabinoids, flavonoids, and natural terpenes in full-spectrum products working together to compound their effects and deliver a more potent product.

Terpenes are naturally-occurring plant molecules that are found in plants like hemp and cannabis. They are aromatic, which means they interact with the body’s olfactory system. Specific terpenes have different benefits, some of which lend additional potency to the calming effects of regular CBD.

How Are CBD Products Tested?

As CBD is not approved as a pharmaceutical or health supplement, it is not regulated by agencies such as the European Medicines Agency. This means producers and vendors of CBD like Canzon must rely on third-party laboratories to test their products to ensure they are potent and safe.

CBD oil testing consists of a number of different panels, each with a specific field of analysis. Quality CBD products are submitted to third-party labs where these panels are tested by an outside party, helping to establish trust and credibility. One effective method of testing CBD is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Third-party tests usually look for potency, cannabinoid profiles, terpenes, pesticides, and residual solvents. Some third-party lab reports also provide results for the presence of heavy metals that may have leached into the soil or water during the growing process.

Potency Testing

Potency testing allows clients to verify the exact amount of cannabinoids available inside of an individual product. Cannabinoids include CBD, THC, CBC, CBDA, CBDV, CBDGA, CBG, and CBN. This allows users to make informed decisions on how much product to use and allows them to determine the dosage they deem most appropriate.

Potency testing also helps confirm the lawfulness of certain products. If the products THC content does not exceed 0.2% dry weight, the CBD is perfectly legal and ready to distribute. This is another way for producers to show the buyers of their products that they are credible vendors by getting testing done.

Canzon is a high-quality CBD products producer. Their products contain less than 0.2% of THC, meaning they cannot induce any psychoactive effects and are perfectly safe for daily use.

Canzon CBD products are third-party tested to ensure maximum quality and accountability. Everything disclosed on their product containers is exactly what is inside of their products.

Pesticide Testing

Pesticide testing is used to verify the safety of the product and ensure that it isn’t contaminated by pesticides that could be harmful for people to interact with, whether through ingesting them or through physical contact. Pesticide testing can provide a full review of contamination levels.

MCL, or Maximum Contaminant Level, is thoroughly examined to make sure it does not exceed legal levels and that the product is safe to distribute. Microbiological screens are also employed to root out the presence of harmful bacterias. Mycotoxin testings are also employed to see if bacteria have spawned any toxins in the product.

One way to avoid the presence of pesticides altogether is to purchase CBD from a vendor that sources its hemp from organic farms. These farms do not use harmful pesticides or herbicides. In fact, many industrial hemp farms are located high in the mountains, such as the Swiss Alps, to reduce the growth of mold and other harmful fungi that requires the use of chemicals.

Terpenes And Solvent Testing

The presence of terpenes and their content is identified in this testing panel. Terpenes can include pinene, caryophyllene, limonene, myrcene, and terpinolene.

While many CBD products are derived from solvent-free extraction methods, some suppliers use solvents such as butane or ethanol. These solvents are supposed to wash away once the CBD is extracted, but these tests are still conducted to make sure that there are no adverse solvents left in the product like ethanol or butane.

Heavy Metals

While not all suppliers look for this important element, Canzon does. Heavy metals can leach into the soil or water supply and eventually make their way into the plant. Long-term exposure to large amounts of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury can have detrimental effects on your health.

Third-party lab testing ensures that these elements are either not present in your CBD, or present at negligible levels that won’t harm you.

Accountability and Trust

Third-party test results build confidence in consumers that the products they buy are both legal and safe. That is why producers like Canzon are reputable and trusted among a large consumer base. With CBD testing, you can find products that are just right for you and safely enjoy the benefits of CBD.

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