What is the difference between Hemp Oil & CBD Oil?

There is often some confusion around the different kinds of cannabis-derived well-being supplements that are for sale in the UK. It is quite easy to be a little confused as to the difference between CBD oil and Hemp oil. Particularly if you look for your cannabinoid fix on Amazon, or Ebay the line between the two is hard to draw.

Hopefully, this blog post will detail the difference is between CBD oil and Hemp Oil, and how to spot the ‘fake CBD oils’.

Hemp Oil Vs CBD Oil

For a lot of people, CBD oils are those ‘cannabis oils’ people buy – hemp is cannabis so they must be also CBD oils? Right?

Well, a Hemp Oil (or hemp seed oil) is derived from the Hemp seeds which are made of up to 75% edible oil. They contain a fantastic array of healthy fats and in itself has a wide range of wellbeing benefits. Most of the time, Hemp seed oils do not contain a meaningful amount of Cannabinoids- it is simply a natural oil that is derived from the seeds of the plant. Hemp oil has been available in health food shops, and are now all the rage online. Hemp seed oils are sold as a food supplement (in capsules/ dropper bottles) or as a beauty product and are fairly cheap (at least much cheaper than a CBD oil)

‘CBD oil’ refers to a substance that contains a large amount of the Cannabinoid CBD– which is one of the main active ingredients derived from the Cannabis/ Hemp leaves and flowers. CBD oil can be produced using pretty much any edible oil, which is why there is so much variety. For example- our Dina (500mg/ 5%) & Diablo (1000mg/10%) are produced using an organic cold-pressed hemp seed oil, and our Dian (1500mg/15%) & Deity (2000mg/20%) CBD oils are produced using an MCT oil which has been derived from Coconut. There are other brands that use Olive Oil, Sunflower or Vegetable to produce their oils. Often ‘CBD oils’ require a process of Co2 extraction (to extract the active cannabinoids & other valuable phytochemicals) and decarboxylation (to turn the raw cannabinoids like CBDa, into CBD).

So, Hemp Oil can be a CBD oil, so long as it actually contains CBD. Most of the really cheap ‘CBD’ oils may just be hemp oil

CBD Oils on Amazon!

One of the most common tactics used by a lot of brands (the CBD oils on Amazon are a perfect example) mock-up their brands/ bottles to look as if they are a CBD product. For instance, with a big ‘20%’ on the bottle – and the ingredients show ‘20% hemp extract’. To the untrained eye, it is really easy to confuse this with a CBD oil.

The fact is ‘hemp extract’ can refer to almost anything from the plant so it does not need to contain any form of cannabinoid… and often they don’t. Some of these products do contain Cannabinoids, but are at a much lower level than what you would expect. Amazon do not allow CBD products to be sold on their platform, but they do allow hemp oil products to be there. So, if you find a 10% oil on amazon for £20, you’re more likely purchasing an expensive hemp oil. A lot of companies get around this by adding fake reviews (there are facebook groups dedicated to this) and asking/ answering questions pretending to be a customer. If you look through all of the amazon ‘CBD oils’ then you will see the same marketing formula.

We have also found more than a few examples of ‘CBD’ oils which are purposely misleading customers. We recently came across a company that is selling what is labeled as a ‘2000mg CBD oil’. For most people, this would be seen as a very strong oil, and the price was very cheap compared to the competitors. After some digging, we found that the oil was ‘2000mgs of hemp extract’, which actually contained just over 4% of CBD.