High-Quality vs. Questionable Cannabidiol – How Customers Could Evaluate CBD Oil

Not long after President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD oil became the “must-have” item across North America. Even today, sales of CBD products continue to rise at a dizzying rate. If current trends persist, many economists believe the CBD sector could be worth a staggering $20 billion by 2024.

Unfortunately for consumers, not every business entering the CBD game has noble intentions. Indeed, some industry analysts say 90 percent of companies offering CBD oil don’t have proper licenses or COAs. Plus, since the FDA doesn’t regulate the CBD industry, it’s challenging for new customers to separate superb CBD from snake oil.

Since your CBD oil’s purity will significantly impact your experience, customers must do a bit of detective work before buying hemp-derived goods. Be sure to take a close look at the following features to verify your CBD oil is as good as the ads suggest.

A CBD Quality Checklist – What To Look For In Premium CBD Oil

Insist On Third-Party Lab Verification

First and foremost, every CBD company should provide third-party lab results to its customers. If you’re having difficulty accessing certificates of analysis (COAs) for a particular CBD product, look for another company.

Why are lab reports so important? Well, remember that there’s no federal oversight in the hemp industry. Since the FDA doesn’t screen CBD oils, it’s up to each company to verify what it’s selling is pure and legal. Indeed, without a formal lab analysis, it’s impossible to determine your CBD oil’s potency and purity.

OK, I SEE THE LAB REPORT—SO, WHAT DO I LOOK FOR?

When you’re reviewing a company’s lab screenings, first double-check there’s no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. Unlike CBD, delta-9 THC is a psychoactive cannabinoid that makes users feel “high.” By law, hemp-derived goods in the USA cannot have ≤ 0.3 percent delta-9 THC.

After verifying your product is federally legal, take a peek at the other cannabinoids and terpenes in your CBD oil. Generally, the more secondary compounds there are, the better chance you’ll experience a phenomenon known as the “entourage effect.”

For those who aren’t aware, the “entourage effect” is the theory that hemp’s natural cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes work together to produce a heightened therapeutic effect. Although there’s still debate over the “entourage effect,” some customers claim full-spectrum CBD oils have a stronger impact versus CBD isolates.

To help suit everyone’s “CBD style,” Organic CBD Nugs now offers a wide range of lab-verified, hemp-derived goods. Whether you preferfull-spectrum CBD tinctures, CBD vapes, or CBD hemp flowers, you shouldn’t have an issue finding quality lab reports on our website. You could also reach out to our Customer Care department for more info on our products’ purity.

As a side note: there’s currently no federal ban on the cannabinoid delta-8 THC. So, if you notice your full-spectrum CBD oil has traces of this cannabinoid, please don’t freak out! To learn more about how delta-8 THC differs from delta-9 THC, be sure to check out this page on Organic CBD Nugs’ website.

The Simpler, The Better! – Examining A CBD Oil’s Ingredient List

After reviewing a company’s COA, take a peek at your CBD oil’s ingredients list. In most cases, high-quality CBD oils should have a few easy-to-pronounce ingredients. In fact, all that manufacturers need to put in a high-quality CBD oil is hemp extract and a carrier oil to bind with fat-soluble cannabinoids.

In Organic CBD Nugs’ formula, we’ve chosen to keep our ingredients as pure as humanly possible. The only two ingredients you’ll find in our CBD oil are as follows:

  • Organic hemp flower concentrate
  • Organic MCT oil from coconuts

Don’t worry; MCT isn’t something weird we formulated in a lab. In fact, if you’re on the keto diet, you might’ve already heard of this hot superfood.

Short for “medium-chain triglyceride,” MCT is a unique fatty acid that seems to have multiple health benefits (e.g., enhanced energy and faster fat-burning). However, the primary reason we use MCT oil in our product is that it appears to promote CBD absorption.

Although we believe strongly in using organic MCT oil, that doesn’t mean it’s the only carrier oil that works with CBD. For instance, many fine CBD products use organic avocado or hempseed oil.

As long as you could identify what’s in your CBD oil, you should feel confident about making a purchase. However, if there are loads of weird-sounding ingredients, you probably don’t want to put that product in your body.

WHAT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS IN CBD OILS?

While we’re on the subject of ingredients, please be extra careful when researching flavored CBD oils. Since full-spectrum CBD oil tends to have a “grassy” taste, many companies mask their oil’s aromatics with natural (or unnatural!) flavor additives.

High-quality CBD oils should only use food-safe essential oils or hemp-derived terpenes as flavor enhancers. Please be on the lookout for any unnecessary sweeteners, fillers, or preservatives in your CBD oil.

You could also use these tips when researching CBD vape products like e-juice. For instance, Organic CBD Nugs’ only uses natural terpenes from organic hemp strains to flavor our CBD vape pens. There are, however, other companies that pump these products with questionable synthetic ingredients.

Where Does Your Company’s Hemp Come From?

Another great way to determine your CBD oil’s quality is to ask where a company gets its hemp. Even though industrial hemp biomass contains traces of CBD, it’s better to go with products that use organically-grown, high-CBD hemp.

There’s a big difference between growing industrial-grade hemp vs. high-CBD hemp. The latter category requires more space, more time, and greater attention to detail. Also, since hemp has a nasty habit of absorbing toxins in the ground, farmers must be wary of where they plant their seeds.

As you could tell from our company’s name, Organic CBD Nugs takes organic farming seriously. Our master cultivators use organic and regenerative growing techniques to bring out the best in our famous hemp buds.

But you don’t have to take our word for it. Unlike other CBD oil manufacturers, Organic CBD Nugs sells the hemp flowers we use in our tinctures online. Anyone could see, smell, and taste our hemp buds for quality assurance.

Be sure to browse our extensive CBD hemp flower catalog for more details.

How Was Your CBD Oil Extracted?

After discovering how a company grows its hemp flower, it’s time to research how they extract all of those precious cannabinoids. There are many different extraction procedures out there, but one of the oldest methods is to use alcohol as a solvent. Indeed, recent research suggests doctors once used alcohol-based tinctures before cannabis was outlawed in the 20th century.

At Organic CBD Nugs, we take this traditional alcohol-based extraction process to the next level with advanced winterization technologies. By chilling our extracted CBD oil, we’re better able to separate unnecessary elements (e.g., chlorophyll) from cannabinoids and terpenes. Not only does this enhance the flavor of our CBD oil, it also increases the potency of our product.

While alcohol-based extraction is one of the most respected extraction procedures, it’s far from the only technique available to extractors. Indeed, many technicians nowadays are going crazy for CO2 extraction technologies.

While CO2 extraction is safe and efficient, it’s costly. Often, the high price associated with CO2 extraction gets passed on to the customer. Plus, there’s some debate over whether CO2 strips away secondary cannabinoids and terpenes, which might not make it the best choice for full-spectrum oils.

While we have great respect for CO2 extraction, Organic CBD Nugs feels alcohol-based extraction plus winterization produces the best quality CBD oil for the price.

If you’re venturing out of these two extraction methods, you have to be extra cautious about what solvent your company is using. Some chemicals like butane have a nasty habit of ending up in inferior CBD oils. As always, please check your company’s lab report to ensure there’s no solvent residue in the final product.

What’s A Fair Price For CBD Oil?

As the old saying goes, “You get what you paid for!” Often, you will have to pay up for higher-quality CBD oils. But that begs the question: what’s a reasonable price for CBD oil?

Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors influencing CBD’s valuation. For instance, there’s currently a lack of supply relative to the demand for hemp. Other factors like extraction procedures, taxes, and packaging requirements also influence the price of CBD oil.

At this point, the best way to gauge a CBD oil’s worth is to research its quality and compare it with other products. You could also calculate a product’s average cost by dividing the final price by the amount of CBD in milligrams.

Typically, high-quality products cost between $0.10 – $0.15 per milligram of CBD. If you know your preferred daily dose of CBD, you could quickly figure out how much you’re spending per day.

Please don’t forget that high prices don’t guarantee high-quality. There are a lot of people in the CBD industry selling inferior products at jacked-up prices. Always do thorough research into a CBD oil’s quality before making a purchase.

What Are CBD Fans Saying Online?

Lastly, take a peek at what online reviewers are saying about your preferred CBD oil. Now that CBD has become such a global phenomenon, there are countless forums and review sites online.

It’s not all that difficult nowadays to find various opinions on many CBD companies. Plus, you could get in touch with people who’ve made verified purchases on sites like Yelp! or TrustPilot.

Of course, please take online reviews with a grain of salt. Due to the anonymity of the Internet, you can never be 100 percent certain where these reviews are coming from. Still, online reviews could give you a general feel for your CBD company’s reputation.

Still Got CBD Questions? Contact Customer Support!

If you’re still hesitating to buy a company’s CBD oil, we’d recommend getting in touch with a customer service rep. Chances are, if your company has a robust customer care department, they are committed to quality assurance. As a bonus, if anything goes wrong with your order, you’ll feel good knowing customer service has got your back.

By the way, you could always reach out to Organic CBD Nugs on this Contact Us page. Although our official business hours are Mondays through Fridays from 9 AM – 5 PM PST, feel free to reach out whenever it’s convenient for you. We promise to return your inquiries ASAP.