Recognized for our “A Game”
Since hemp CBD was made legal in 2018 a flood of products have hit the marketplace without stringent regulations in place. The FDA has yet to make a formal ruling on requirements to sell CBD, emphasizing only that companies not make any “over-the-line claims” about products, such as disease treatment claims like those associated with pharmaceutical drugs. But just because a company isn’t drawing attention to itself with marketing claims, doesn’t mean it’s doing the right thing by way of growing and processing practices.
Recently, the Center for Food Safety (CFS), a non-profit public interest group, released a report card evaluating the practices of 40 national CBD brands. For each company, CFS evaluated hemp farming practices, including if products had organic certification. It also reviewed processing, testing and auditing methods—all of the behind-the-scenes stuff responsible for making a quality product.
Out of 40 companies, only 4 received an A grade. We were one of the four companies and the only company to receive a perfect score of 100 out of 100. Nearly half of the companies received a failing or near failing grade (a D or an F) according to CFS.
The report evaluated the following factors:
- Adoption of USDA certified organic or made with organic ingredients certifications
- Prcocessing method – ethanol/alcohol or CO2
- 3rd Party Testing for pesticides, heavy metals such as lead, and microbiological contaminants
- Transparecny to consumers about production practices
The report noted that only 6 companies produce primarily USDA certified organic products, yet only 2 out of the 40 evaluated certify that they are glyphosate residue free (the pesticide used in Round Up that is a known carcinogen).
But why is glyhphosate residue free certification so important? Because hemp is a bioaccumulator, it absorbs toxins and pesticides from the soil in which it’s grown. This makes both USDA organic and glyphosate residue-free certification crucial when growing hemp, to ensure residual pesticides don’t end up in CBD products.
In addition to testing for glyphosate and pesticides, the CFS said producers of hemp CBD products also should be testing all products for heavy metals and microbiological contamination, suggesting that companies source non-GMO ethanol and “avoid other GMO ingredients that may be coming soon such as GMO CBD produced using synthetic biology.” As a USDA certified organic company all of our products are GMO free.
So what’s the secret to our “A” game? An unending commitment to making the best choices for you and the planet. We are committed to following the USDA certified organic regulations and providing full transparency through rigorous third-party testing and certifications. We ensure that there are no pesticides, toxins, heavy metals or other contaminants in the soil growing our products or in the products we are producing for you to put in your body.
If that’s what it takes to get an A, we’ll take it. We’re proud of the product we produce and we’re proud to be recognized for the work we do. We hope you are too.
The full Center for Food Safety scorecard ratings:
