We totally get how confusing it can be when it comes to choosing the right CBD product – with no standardised labelling or descriptions for products it can be incredibly frustrating – but we are confident the new Comparison Guide will make it much easier for you to assess product quality.
“When I was first looking for quality CBD years ago, I was as frustrated and confused as you might be by the lack of regulation and the false claims being made, and unfortunately the industry hasn’t moved on, even though it has grown hugely in popularity over that time.
I tried six different CBD products myself and only two of them were actually effective – that realisation is partly why I decided to set up Life Spark CBD – at least all my customers would know exactly what kind of quality product they were receiving and could relax, confident in the health and wellbeing benefits they would experience.” Amy Burgess, Founder Life Spark CBD
Now, using the Comparison Guide means you can check out other brands, against all the amazing high-quality features that we include as standard in all our Life Spark CBD products – to make sure you really are buying a beneficial product as well as getting good value for money.
Our guide highlights all the important things you need to know to accurately assess the quality of different CBD brands. It will help you compare strength, price and quality using 19 different characteristics found within CBD products, from whether it’s derived from industrial hemp or specially bred hemp, if it’s organically grown, if it includes levels of THC (the component that gets one high), to the carrier oil used and the taste.
But don’t just take our word for it – check out our Comparison Guide here:
If you want your own copy of the CBD Comparison Chart, click here to download your free PDF version.
Why is the CBD market so confusing?
With the growing popularity of CBD, particularly with the increased number of people experiencing anxiety and sleep issues throughout the pandemic who are now looking for natural solutions, it’s more important than ever that customers and retailers know exactly what they are buying.
CBD has become one of the world’s fastest-growing industries and in May 2021, the ACI and Centre for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC) estimated the UK cannabidiol (CBD) industry will generate £690m ($959m) in annual sales for 2021.
Unfortunately, the fact this huge and growing industry is still not regulated, makes it very difficult for someone unfamiliar with CBD products to easily understand what they are actually purchasing. Our own research has found a huge disparity in the quality, purity, and potency of CBD products on the market and labelling can be deceiving.
For example, recently, a customer of a popular high street chain purchased a CBD that she believed to be a concentration of 2,000 mg of CBD, a strong CBD. In reality, it was ‘2,000 mg CBD oil from whole plant extract’, not actual CBD. In essence, a high price was paid for relatively little CBD. How is someone supposed to decode this?
Why does CBD labelling matter for customers?
To prove just how misleading this industry can be, and more importantly, why it’s vital for customers to understand what they are buying when it comes to CBD, The Centre for Medical Cannabis tested 30 High Street CBD products and their findings are quite concerning.
One High Street pharmacy CBD product was selling for £90, and the tests showed it contained no CBD at all. I mean, imagine how disappointed those customers must be, not to mention still suffering from whichever health conditions lead them to try CBD in the first place!
Another 11 of the products tested, actually contained 50% less CBD than their labels claimed. Eight of the products were contaminated with solvents and heavy metals because of poor production methods, while one contained a dangerous level of ethanol.
The tests also worryingly revealed that 13 out of the 30 products actually contained illegal levels of THC. THC is the psychoactive part of hemp. The UK legal limit is 0.2% THC. Life Spark CBD is 0.0% THC which is valued by many people, especially professionals and professional athletes who rely on knowing the precise THC content so they do not test positive for illegal drugs at their place of work or sports team, without realizing it.
As you can see, this lack of regulation and lack of precise labelling is not just confusing and frustrating but could be harmful to health and get customers in trouble due to the illegal THC levels.
The problem is that misleading labelling will lead to customers buying incorrect products and then feeling they don’t work or that they have wasted their money. This could cause people to lose faith in the genuine ability of CBD to support their health and wellbeing and turn away from the industry.
We are hoping there will be a full review of the CBD market in the future which will lead to greater regulation and consistent labelling of products, to protect consumers and retailers, As a solution in the meantime, use the Life Spark CBD Comparison Guide to support you in evaluating CBD products. Just research the CBD brands websites you want to know more about and see how many ticks they get on the Comparison Guide. The results may surprise you!
How do you know what’s in Life Spark CBD products?
Life Spark CBD only offers fully organic CBD products in the UK, unlike many of our competitors – and we are among a handful of retailers who offer Zero THC oils. Life Spark CBD is presently awaiting the publishing of the Public List of Approved CBD Retailers by the EU Novel Foods, Food Standards Agency…the gold standard in quality assurance.
Our sophisticated extraction processes ensure that all THC and all harmful chemicals are removed from our products and keep in all the terpenes – which gives Life Spark CBD oil its wonderfully light, nutty taste as well as extra health benefits.
When it comes to our own CBD products, we offer only the highest quality, organic CBD and a rigorous testing scheme using chromatography and independent 3rd party testing is always followed. You can find the full details of all our product analysis in our published lab reports.
References
Business Leader Industry Report: The Uk’s Cannabis/CBD market
How bad is CBD oil mislabelling in the UK?
