Health food shops and supermarkets have wasted no time in stocking a vast range of different CBD products. With so many consumers keen to experience the health benefits cannabidiol might offer them, the shops are equally keen to capitalise on this new market.
Lots of companies will of course be making lofty claims as to the therapeutic benefits of their products. As responsible producers of FSA approved CBD products, it matters to us at Goodrays that we be clear about what exactly such claims mean, and what you can trust.
Medical CBD is a phrase that can loosely be applied to any product containing CBD which is taken for a therapeutic benefit such as relieving symptoms. That doesn’t have to mean that the product has proven medicinal benefits, however. Some products sold in shops have such low CBD concentrations it’s a wonder if they produce any effects whatsoever.
It is not legal for CBD products sold in UK stores to make medical claims on their labelling either- their food supplement status prohibits this.
CBD – Food Supplement or Medicine?
For legal sale in shops in the UK, CBD products must be derived from hemp plants containing less than 0.2% THC. In the USA it’s a similar situation, with the threshold set at the federal level at less than 0.3%. This contrasts with cannabis products available on prescription, which can be derived from marijuana plants with far higher THC content.
Currently, non-prescription CBD products are categorised as food supplements, as their medical application in treating different ailments has yet to be conclusively proven. To be classed medicinal CBD in the strictest sense requires a product to have specific licensing to be distributed as a medicine- as is the case with Epidyolex, prescribed for treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Only two other products have this licensing in the UK right now, and all can only be prescribed for very specific conditions when all other treatment methods have been tried and failed. So, licensing for medical cannabis products is pretty tough to obtain!
That’s not to say this will always be the case though. The internet is awash with first-hand accounts of people for whom CBD has given a new lease of life, managing everything from depression and anxiety to chronic pain disorders.
The scientific world has taken notice too, with controlled trials and longer-term studies providing very encouraging results. The results from such studies take years to gather and be peer-reviewed though, and until we have this data, the majority of us must make do with getting our CBD benefits from products legally classed as food items.
Buying the Best CBD
In this slight mess of legal red tape and trading standards jargon, ensuring we can reap all the benefits of CBD in the safest and most effective way possible means purchasing our CBD products from trusted providers. When you can be sure of the source, quality, and strength of what you are getting, then you can be sure you’ll be getting the results you want too.
We went on a search to find the best CBD in the UK. Breakthrough companies in the UK like Goodrays use products derived from the highest-grade Colorado-grown hemp and put their products through extensive third-party lab testing. Their CBD drinks contain some of the highest concentrations of CBD available on the UK market, boasting 30mg/can as well as added vitamin D. So far these were the best products we came across on our search but the market is currently thriving with many options out there, sound off in the comments with your top picks!
