The hemp oil that you see in supermarkets and on Amazon is not is CBD oil. The proper term is hemp ‘seed’ oil and hemp seeds have no CBD or negligible CBD. But, there is substantial confusion caused by the misbranding of hemp oil and hemp seed oil as CBD oil. Some of that is intentional like on Amazon where there are some hemp seed oils selling for authentic, pure CBD oil prices.
For starters, at this point in time Amazon does NOT allow CBD to be sold on that website. And, for that matter Whole Foods stores do not allow the sale of CBD. Amazon seller rules specifically prohibit the sale of CBD products. But there are a number of very expensive hemp oil products for sale there, which may or may not contain CBD. But some of this confusion is probably intentional as some companies offering authentic CBD products attempt to skirt Amazon’s rules. On the flip side there could be expensive hemp seed oils being offered on Amazon that have little or no CBD. Consumers who buy hemp oil products without a clear indication and verification that the product contains CBD are spending money on a giant leap of faith and possibly getting ripped off. Without full disclosure on the product’s labeling it is difficult to determine whether or not the product contains CBD, so consumers must very carefully read ingredients labels before buying any product in addition to looking for evidence of authenticity such as an independent labs’ verification of ingredients including cannabidiol, or CBD.
Another potential source of confusion and trickery is that some products label themselves as ‘hemp extract’ without any indication that the product contains any CBD. While CBD oil is a compound that is extracted from hemp, there are many, many other possible substances that could be extracted from hemp. Again, unless there are crystal clear statements and evidence indicating that the extracted substance in the ‘hemp extract’ product is CBD, consumers would be well advised to do some research before buying in order to better ensure they are getting the real deal. In 2014 The Hemp Industry Association and stated that … “CBD is not a product or component of hemp seeds, and labeling to that effect is misleading and motivated by the desire to take advantage of the legal gray area of CBD under federal law.” The bottom line is that consumers should not be confused into thinking that hemp oil, hemp seed oil or hemp extract is necessarily CBD oil.