It seems that CBD oil products derived from hemp are everywhere these days, available in health food stores, vape shops, wellness clinics, dispensaries, and even online. But have you ever stopped to ask how CBD oil is made?
Since 2012, HempMeds® has been the leader in CBD oil products. In fact, we created the CBD hemp oil market when we innovated the Dixie Botanicals® line of CBD supplements.
Recognizing the need for a non-psychoactive source of cannabinoids, we developed our first-of-its-kind CBD hemp oil pipeline – growing our hemp in Europe before manufacturing our hemp oil into a range of CBD supplements and shipping them legally around the world.
Throughout our manufacturing process, we made conscious decisions about how our CBD oil is made to guarantee that we produce only the safest and most reliable CBD supplements on the market.
CLEAN AND SUSTAINABLY GROWN HEMP
We only use non-GMO hemp plants in the crafting of our products, meaning the plants we use haven’t been genetically modified in any way. HempMeds® focuses on harnessing the all-natural benefits of CBD, and that means using all-natural hemp in the creation of all our products.
We selected our specific hemp cultivar from among 3000 potential hemp plants due to its ability to thrive in the microclimates of our farms and its capacity to produce the optimal ratio of CBD for use in our CBD hemp oil products.
Because hemp is an efficient bioaccumulator, we recognize that it is important to avoid using chemical pesticides that can cause residual contamination of our products. To protect you, our customers, we grow all of our hemp free of pesticides, relying instead on the hemp plant’s natural resistance to pests.
Our choice not to use pesticides is also the healthy option for the environment as well. Toxic pesticides sprayed on hemp plants can leach into nearby soil and water sources, negatively impacting local biological environments.
We also grow our hemp in close rows, limiting the ability of weeds to establish themselves among our fields. Since we sow our hemp seeds close together, the shade from the fast-growing hemp plants inhibits the growth of common weeds, negating the need to use herbicides that could cause contamination. Like with pesticides, we avoid using herbicides because they can affect local biological communities or be absorbed by our hemp plants and transferred residually to our customers.
SAFE SUPERCRITICAL CO2 EXTRACTION
When extracting a pure botanical oil from hemp, a solvent is passed through the plant material, pulling the compound rich oil from the plant. The solvent is then removed in a purging process, leaving behind a concentrated oil. When extracting from hemp, the oil can next be formulated into finished products or further refined and purified into a number of forms, including a golden dewaxed concentrate or crystallized CBD isolate.
There are a number of potential solvents that can be used to extract CBD oil from the hemp plant. Some companies choose to use dangerous chemical solvents in their extraction process. However, this opens the end user to residual contamination from any solvent that is left unpurged from the oil. To extract our CBD oil from our hemp crops, we use supercritical CO2.
Since it is non-toxic and non-flammable, supercritical CO2 is preferable over chemical solvents like butane, hexane, and acetone, which can linger in the extracted oil if not purged correctly, rendering the oil toxic. It has also been noted that botanical essential oils extracted using supercritical CO2 are truer to the scent of the original plants than in other forms of extraction, meaning more of the plant’s chemical structure is retained in the oil with the use of CO2.
When we discuss supercritical CO2, we are referring to carbon dioxide that is in a fluid state because it is held at its critical temperature and critical pressure. Supercritical CO2 is an important development in commercial extraction due to its low toxicity and minimal environmental impact.
Because the FDA considers CO2 extraction to be GRAS or “generally regarded as safe” for commercial extraction, this method is popular in the food industry. The stability of supercritical CO2 also allows most compounds to be extracted with little damage. In the coffee industry, supercritical CO2 is already widely accepted as safer than traditional solvents to extract the caffeine from decaffeinated coffee beans.
EXPERT FORMULATION OF CBD OIL PRODUCTS
Every HempMeds® product we ship is manufactured in Southern California. Once our hemp oil is received into the U.S. and certified to be safe, it is sent to our manufacturers in San Diego to be formulated into our complete line of CBD hemp oil tinctures, liquids, salves, capsules, and beauty products.
California has some of the most rigorous safety standards in the world. Our commitment to these lofty standards allows us to create top quality finished products for your family every time. Our San Diego manufacturers are registered with the State of California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug and must adhere to the strict regulations the department puts forth.
Our manufacturers require Certificates of Analysis for all raw materials used in our products to ensure they too have been tested for safety. They also exceed current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) listed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including hygienic workspaces, controlled environmental conditions, and comprehensive training.
STRICT TRIPLE LAB TESTED™ STANDARD
Our commitment to product quality and purity has driven HempMeds® to develop the strictest testing process in our industry, the Triple Lab Tested™ standard. We use ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited testing labs to examine our hemp oil and assure both its safety and consistency. These labs test our hemp oil for the concentration of cannabinoids, including CBD, CBDa, CBG, THC, and over a half dozen others. By testing our hemp oil three times during our process, we ensure that our products are completely safe for use by you and your entire family.
You can discover more about CBD oil on our education page, or shop our online store now to get started adding CBD to your system.
