TEL AVIV, Israel — In an extensive study covering 18 months, online CBD resource Leafreport found only 40% of 221 tested products matched the CBD strength on the label.
In addition, many contained the incorrect type of CBD.
“Our mission was simple: send the products for third-party testing and compare the results to the amount and type of CBD listed on the product label,” Leafreport said. “We tested products from different categories, including oils, edibles, topicals, beverages and pet products and published the results in separate reports.
For this summary report, Leafreport combined its findings to assess the overall accuracy of CBD product labels.
The 221 tested CBD products came from 111 brands for third-party testing and included:
- 35 CBD oil
- 40 topical
- 40 edible
- 22 beverage
- 55 pet
- 29 coffee and tea
“For each one, we compared the amount and type of CBD shown on the test to the label,” Leafreport said. “To be considered accurate and receive an A grade, products needed to be within 10% of the labeled CBD content. Products that were off from the label by a higher percentage received a B, C or F grade.”
Leafreport found:
- Only 40% of products matched the labeled CBD strength.
- 28% of products received the worst (F) grade for having CBD levels that differed from the label by more than 30%.
- On average, the CBD content of products was off from the label by nearly 25%.
- Beverages had the worst results, with only 18% of products matching the label and two products containing no CBD at all.
- Out of 97 products advertised to contain broad or full-spectrum CBD, 44% were mislabeled.
- In the beverage, topical and edible categories, more products got an F than an A.
- Lesser-known CBD companies performed better than leading brands in the edible and beverage categories.
- The two most accurate brands were Lazarus Naturals and Steve’s Goods, receiving As in all three categories in which they participated.
- Just CBD, PlusCBD and CBDistillery also did well, scoring As on two reports and a B on a third.
Leafreport is an online CBD resource that seeks to bring transparency to the CBD industry. In another recent report, it found 70% of brands lowered prices in 2020.
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