The Importance of CBD Lab Testing
How to Choose the Best Product
If you want to know whether your child’s car seat meets safety standards, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. If you’re worried you might hit a utility line while building a new garage, call the national before-you-dig number.
It’s easy to get conclusive expert advice on many products and services, but CBD products don’t have that luxury. There’s no national hotline or federal agency with clear guidelines on which products are safe and which to avoid.
Although volumes of research point to the efficacy of CBD in treating a range of mood disorders and chronic pain, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) holds their stance of assuming all CBD is guilty until proven innocent - that the risks of CBD outweigh its benefits.
Until the FDA concludes that CBD is a generally safe product, it will not lift or alter the regulatory framework affecting hemp-derived products like CBD. Many retailers and companies remain uncertain about how to label and market their products for fear of being shut down, penalized, or publicly denounced in one of the FDA’s warning letters.
The redeeming quality for CBD companies is in laboratory testing, specifically third-party laboratory testing. Lab tests can identify the specific cannabinoid profile of each product, as well as determining its purity and THC content. Perhaps even more importantly, lab tests can tell you if the product you chose actually contains the advertised dose.
When you’re spending upwards of $100 for a CBD product, you need to know what’s in it and if it can do what it says it will. If you’re looking for a legitimate CBD oil, tincture, or softgel, ask for the CBD certificate of analysis (COA).
Keep reading to find out what a COA will tell you and how it’ll help you pick the best product for your needs.
What Third-Party CBD Labs Look For
When testing a CBD product, lab technicians analyze the hemp extract to determine levels of THC and the presence of terpenes, as well as potentially harmful ingredients like heavy metals and pesticides. Those substances have no place in the CBD industry.
After laboratories perform tests on CBD products, they create a certificate of analysis (COA), which contains crucial information on the composition of the product. The COA includes results from the various tests which the laboratory performs on the sample. Here are some of the most common CBD lab tests:
Cannabinoid Profile
Every Medsana lab report contains a cannabinoid profile. This is a report from the third-party laboratory displaying the cannabinoid levels in a sample. Because Medsana products are strictly isolate-based, the only cannabinoid you’ll find is CBD. There is no THC or other cannabinoids, all of which can be found in full or broad-spectrum CBD products.
Cannabinoids are hemp-derived chemical compounds that act on the body’s endocannabinoid receptors. These receptors are found in the endocannabinoid system (ECS), a complex system that plays a huge role in regulating mood, energy levels, appetite, memory, and fertility, among other things.
Current research suggests there are at least 113 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant alone. These include the well-known players CBD and THC as well as lesser-known cannabinoids like CBC, CBG, and CBN. Cannabinoid profiles verify that the advertised amount of CBD is present in the sample. If it isn’t, and if there is THC present, the user may experience psychoactive effects, which is dangerous for driving and working.
Don’t trust a CBD product if it contains more than 0.3% THC, and definitely don’t trust it if there is no labeled THC amount or certificate of analysis available. To legally enjoy the benefits of authentic, lab-tested CBD, choose a THC-free product from Medsana.
Terpene Profile
Terpenes are naturally-occurring aromatic oils found in many plants. These compounds lend distinctive scents to cannabis, lemons, oranges, and pine, among many others. The cannabis plant has over 100 terpenes which are present in full and broad-spectrum CBD products.
The lab’s CBD certificate of analysis will tell you which terpenes are present in what quantities, usually measured as parts per million. Research suggests that terpenes may be beneficial when combined with cannabinoids and other natural parts of cannabis - the so-called “entourage effect”.
However, terpenes are an additional component that affects a CBD product’s purity. And although there may be benefits to these compounds, research has not fully discovered how specific terpenes interact with each other and cannabinoids in the body.
Our goal at Medsana is to produce the purest, most highly-concentrated CBD products. All of our lotions, gel caps, tinctures, and oils are made of 99% pure CBD isolate. Part of the process in achieving that purity is to filter out additional ingredients like terpenes to obtain the highest possible purity level. You won’t find a terpene profile from Medsana’s lab report, but we like it that way.
Contaminants
It’s true - the CBD industry has a quality control problem. Some bad apples wanting to make a quick buck have made low-quality, dangerous CBD products, creating distrust among consumers and animosity from government agencies.
Perhaps the most important thing that a third-party CBD test reveals is the amount and type of contaminants in a CBD sample. That’s crucial, as an unfortunate number of CBD products are polluted with all sorts of chemicals. In fact, a study conducted by Ellipse Analytics found that 70% of top-selling CBD products tested positive for heavy metals such as lead and arsenic.
Other contaminants that CBD laboratories test for include:
- - Microbial contaminants, including mold, E-coli, salmonella, and yeast
- - Mycotoxins produced by fungi, including aflatoxin and ochratoxin
- - Pesticides, including Azoxystrobin, Daminozide, Imazalil, and Pyrethrin
- - Solvent residue, including propane, butane, methanol, and ethyl acetate
If you notice that the seller does not have an available CBD certificate of analysis (COA), do not buy that product. The CBD may contain harmful or even deadly contaminants or no CBD at all. Because of the lack of regulation in the industry, many CBD companies market their product however they want - their “CBD oil” could be filled with mold or bacteria and you’d never know.
Keep yourself safe by asking for the COA. At Medsana, we encourage customers to view our report. Unlike other CBD companies, Medsana has nothing to hide.
Third-Party Certified CBD
Due to the ever-changing and turbulent nature of the CBD industry, you should only purchase products tested by an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. Through their ISO 17025 standard, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) allows laboratories to more thoroughly regulate products through quality testing and calibration.
It’s difficult for labs to earn this accreditation, but doing so places them among trusted, legitimate operations. Being ISO 17025-certified doesn’t end as soon as the lab earns the distinction; constant maintenance and check-ins ensure a consistently high-quality product.
All of Medsana’s products are ISO 17025-accredited; we work hard to maintain our standard of excellence and we work with one of the best labs to do so.
99% Pure Lab-Tested CBD
It’s hard to choose a CBD product. Thousands of companies across the globe are capitalizing off the wellness craze and there are more than enough CBD products to choose from. Unfortunately, many of those companies use harmful ingredients or practices. Their CBD may be tainted with harmful products or may not contain CBD at all.
To be sure you aren’t wasting money, ask for the company’s certificate of analysis (COA). This report will show you the cannabinoid profile of a CBD sample, as well as the presence of terpenes and any harmful contaminants. At Medsana, we encourage customers to ask for our COA; we’re happy to demonstrate the confidence we have in our product.
Visit our Products page to view our full range of lab-tested certified CBD products and live life without limitations.