CBD Labels and Terms
Reading CBD labels can be confusing, even if you’re fairly knowledgeable about CBD. Part of the problem is all the companies tell you what is in their product in different ways. Some tell you how much CBD is in one serving, some tell you how much CBD is in the whole bottle and some tell you how many total cannabinoids. There are different serving sizes and lots of different size bottles. Then there are full spectrum, broad spectrum, and isolate products.
So we’re here to clear up some of the confusion for you. Let’s start with some terms that are commonly used when talking about CBD. In the United States the cannabis plant is regulated by how much Delta 9 THC it contains. THC is the substance in the plant that makes people feel high. Any cannabis plant that has more than .03% THC is regulated as marijuana and can only be sold in licensed dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal. It cannot be sold across state lines and it is illegal to ship it. You have to be 21 to purchase marijuana in Illinois. Any cannabis plant that has less than .03% THC is regulated as hemp. Hemp derived CBD products are federally legal to sell over the counter to anyone over 18 in all 50 states. This is not the same kind of hemp that is used to make paper or rope or clothing. It is medical grade hemp. All cannabis plants have THC and CBD and a host of other minor cannabinoids and terpenes in them. Hemp plants have high CBD and low THC (below .03%). Marijuana plants have high THC and low CBD, although this wasn’t always the case.
All the products we carry at Botanica are hemp derived CBD products. There are 3 types of CBD products, Full Spectrum, Broad Spectrum and Isolate.
Now that you know all these terms let’s get down to how to read a CBD label. If the label has a number higher than 100 on the label it is likely that it is telling you how much CBD is in the entire bottle. If it has a number like 12 or 25 or 50, it is probably telling you how much CBD is in one serving. It is important to keep in mind that that serving size is not a dosing mechanism, it is just one way of telling you the strength or concentration of the product. You also need to pay attention to the milliliters in a serving size. Most companies call .5ml or 1ml a serving size. We generally talk about serving sizes of 1ml because it allows us to compare the strength all the different products we carry. It is also important to pay attention to the size of the bottle because a 1 ounce bottle that has 1500mg of CBD is much stronger than a 3 ounce bottle that has 1500mg of CBD. So….let’s do some math.
Calculating dosages
If your bottle is 1 ounce (or 30ml) and has 1500 mg of CBD in it, there are 30- 1ml servings wth 50mg of cbd in each serving. If you are ever in doubt about the concentration of a product, divide the total amount of CBD in the bottle by the total amount of milliliters in the bottle (there are 30ml in 1oz). 1500mg/30ml=50mg per serving. If this seems confusing, just remember that milligrams (mg) refers to how much CBD and milliliters (ml) refers to the amount of fluid in the bottle.
If you are using a very strong product or microdosing, it is important to know that there is about 32 drops of fluid in 1 ml of fluid. We generally round to 30 drops/ml. So the same bottle that we are talking about above has 50 mg in 1 milliliter of fluid or 50 mg/30 drops = about 1.67 milligrams of cbd per millileter. Some companies like Endoca make it really easy to calculate this. Their cbd oil comes in a 10 ml bottle. They have 3 concentrations:
300 mg/10 ml bottle or 30 mg/ml or 1 mg/drop (30 mg/30 drops = 1 ml/drop)
1500 mg/10 ml bottle or 150 mg/ml or 5 mg/drop (30 mg/30 drops = 1 ml/drop) This is a very strong concentration.
3000 mg/10 ml bottle or 300 mg/ml or 10 mg/drop (30 mg/30 drops = 1 ml/drop) This is a very very strong concentration.
Want to figure out which product is most cost effective? What you want to find out is the cost per milligram. In order to do this you divide the price by the total number of milligrams in the bottle to give you the cost per milligram.
For example:
You are now an expert in the confusing and bewildering science of how to read a CBD label.
Still confused and have questions? Give us a call at 847-905-0391.
Reading CBD labels can be confusing, even if you’re fairly knowledgeable about CBD. Part of the problem is all the companies tell you what is in their product in different ways. Some tell you how much CBD is in one serving, some tell you how much CBD is in the whole bottle and some tell you how many total cannabinoids. There are different serving sizes and lots of different size bottles. Then there are full spectrum, broad spectrum, and isolate products.
So we’re here to clear up some of the confusion for you. Let’s start with some terms that are commonly used when talking about CBD. In the United States the cannabis plant is regulated by how much Delta 9 THC it contains. THC is the substance in the plant that makes people feel high. Any cannabis plant that has more than .03% THC is regulated as marijuana and can only be sold in licensed dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal. It cannot be sold across state lines and it is illegal to ship it. You have to be 21 to purchase marijuana in Illinois. Any cannabis plant that has less than .03% THC is regulated as hemp. Hemp derived CBD products are federally legal to sell over the counter to anyone over 18 in all 50 states. This is not the same kind of hemp that is used to make paper or rope or clothing. It is medical grade hemp. All cannabis plants have THC and CBD and a host of other minor cannabinoids and terpenes in them. Hemp plants have high CBD and low THC (below .03%). Marijuana plants have high THC and low CBD, although this wasn’t always the case.
All the products we carry at Botanica are hemp derived CBD products. There are 3 types of CBD products, Full Spectrum, Broad Spectrum and Isolate.
- Full Spectrum is a whole plant extraction, which means they contain much more than just CBD. They have .03% or less THC and CBD, CBG, CBN, CBC, terpenes, flavonoids and phytonutrients. For this reason many of these products are called Hemp Oil or Hemp Extract (not to be confused with Hemp seed oil, which contains no CBD) because they contain much more than just CBD. They are the most effective CBD products on the market for most people because all these nutrients work synergistically together. We call this the Entourage Effect.
- Broad Spectrum products are full spectrum products without the THC. This is achieved either by making a full spectrum product and then taking it an extra step to remove the THC or by breeding a strain of hemp that has 0% THC. Broad Spectrum products give the same benefits as a full spectrum product but can be taken by anyone who cannot have even a trace of THC in their system. For this reason Broad Spectrum products are a good choice for public safety officials, drivers of any kind and student athletes.
- Isolate products contain only CBD. In general they tend to be the least effective type of CBD product, although many people do find them effective.
Now that you know all these terms let’s get down to how to read a CBD label. If the label has a number higher than 100 on the label it is likely that it is telling you how much CBD is in the entire bottle. If it has a number like 12 or 25 or 50, it is probably telling you how much CBD is in one serving. It is important to keep in mind that that serving size is not a dosing mechanism, it is just one way of telling you the strength or concentration of the product. You also need to pay attention to the milliliters in a serving size. Most companies call .5ml or 1ml a serving size. We generally talk about serving sizes of 1ml because it allows us to compare the strength all the different products we carry. It is also important to pay attention to the size of the bottle because a 1 ounce bottle that has 1500mg of CBD is much stronger than a 3 ounce bottle that has 1500mg of CBD. So….let’s do some math.
Calculating dosages
If your bottle is 1 ounce (or 30ml) and has 1500 mg of CBD in it, there are 30- 1ml servings wth 50mg of cbd in each serving. If you are ever in doubt about the concentration of a product, divide the total amount of CBD in the bottle by the total amount of milliliters in the bottle (there are 30ml in 1oz). 1500mg/30ml=50mg per serving. If this seems confusing, just remember that milligrams (mg) refers to how much CBD and milliliters (ml) refers to the amount of fluid in the bottle.
If you are using a very strong product or microdosing, it is important to know that there is about 32 drops of fluid in 1 ml of fluid. We generally round to 30 drops/ml. So the same bottle that we are talking about above has 50 mg in 1 milliliter of fluid or 50 mg/30 drops = about 1.67 milligrams of cbd per millileter. Some companies like Endoca make it really easy to calculate this. Their cbd oil comes in a 10 ml bottle. They have 3 concentrations:
300 mg/10 ml bottle or 30 mg/ml or 1 mg/drop (30 mg/30 drops = 1 ml/drop)
1500 mg/10 ml bottle or 150 mg/ml or 5 mg/drop (30 mg/30 drops = 1 ml/drop) This is a very strong concentration.
3000 mg/10 ml bottle or 300 mg/ml or 10 mg/drop (30 mg/30 drops = 1 ml/drop) This is a very very strong concentration.
Want to figure out which product is most cost effective? What you want to find out is the cost per milligram. In order to do this you divide the price by the total number of milligrams in the bottle to give you the cost per milligram.
For example:
- A one ounce bottle of Charlotte's Web original costs $119 and has 1500 mg of cbd. So you divide $119 by 1500 to get .079 or 7.9 cents per milligram of cbd.
- Endoca's 1500 mg bottle of cbd oil is $89. So the cost per milligram is $89/1500 = .059 or 5.9 cents per milligram. If you come to our store, our in store signage includes the cost per milligram for all tinctures and capsules and we are working to add this information to our online product pages as well.
You are now an expert in the confusing and bewildering science of how to read a CBD label.
Still confused and have questions? Give us a call at 847-905-0391.
