London, United Kingdom: CBD-infused products sold commercially in the United Kingdom often provide inaccurate potency data on their labels and may contain elevated levels of heavy metals and solvents, according to independent lab test results commissioned by the British advocacy group Centre for Medicinal Cannabis.
The group compiled potency and purity data on 30 commercially available CBD oil products. Third-party testing revealed that over 60 percent of the products inaccurately labeled their CBD content. Eleven (38 percent) of the products possessed less than 50 percent of the advertised CBD content, while one product possessed no CBD. Nearly half of all products (45 percent) possessed measurable quantities of THC, and seven products tested positive for elevated levels of either heavy metals or solvents.
“The industry as a whole must use these results to understand the areas of weakness in producing a quality product that consumers can trust, and use the findings to justify additional steps they should take for their own production, or for reassurance across their supply chain, that some of these negative results are not reflected in their own products,” the Centre reported.
Third-party testing of CBD-infused products commercially available in the United States have frequently produced similar results – such as those available here, here, here, and here.
In May, NORML provided written testimony to the FDA calling on the agency to move expeditiously to provide regulatory guidelines governing the manufacturing and lab testing of certain CBD-infused products.
Full text of the Centre’s report, “CBD in the UK,” is online. More information is available in the NORML fact-sheet “FAQs About Cannabidiol.”