Everywhere you turn there's a gas station, grocery store, smoke shop, and even a grandma laying claim to the wonderful power of hemp.
Sure, it may be true that CBD helps with sleep, inflammation, appetite, mood stabilization, skin irritation, and even cancer remediation.
However, what happens if the product itself is filled with toxins such as mold, pesticide residue, or potentially heavy metals?
In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about quality control for smokable hemp.
Quality Control Standard for Smokable Hemp
While CBD and Hemp related products offer many benefits when consumed, do you ever stop to ask about a companies quality assurance process?
This is something that we take with utmost importance and so should you. We are constantly challenging our systems to make sure we are raising the bar and providing a product that you can depend on.
So, there is absolutely a quality control standard for CBD. Our focus goes beyond providing you with the best product but also the safest.
Is the Quality of Hemp Measured?
CBD has been classified by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a “dietary supplement ingredient”. This removes CBD products from safety requirements and efficacy reviews by the FDA required for any other pharmaceutical drug.
Although this is beneficial for the industry and the reintroduction of hemp in to the commercial space, it does leave a lot of room for mislabeling products.
In other words, there's little regulation outside of the potency or cannabinoid content of the product in place like there is in other industries. The current industrial hemp industry is a moderately self regulated space at the moment.
This ultimately means it is up to each hemp company to have best practices in place and the consumers to ask the right questions from their CBD and Hemp source.
Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control
When comparing quality control and quality assurance, the difference is in meeting the standards vs. going the distance with attention to detail.
In fact, we've compiled a Holistic Hemp Farming Workbook that we feel is one of the best resources in the industry. If you're looking for guidance in all aspects of growing quality industrial hemp, check it out by following this link.
The Canvast Way
That said, our team of Quality Assurance Specialists carefully monitors all raw product that comes through our hemp processing facility.
Each processor participates in the CANVAST Quality Assurance Program.
What is the Difference Between Hemp Biomass and Smokable Hemp?
Industrial Hemp Biomass is cannabis that is rich in CBD that has been cultivated with the intent to go to an extraction processing facility. Hemp extracts are used in a wide range of consumer products from tinctures to topicals.
Hemp Biomass is generally machine dried or dried in barns and does not go through a curing process. Oftentimes this can result in a hay-like smell with lower terpene content. Hemp Biomass is also usually milled before extraction.
As a general rule of thumb - if your hemp was not given adequate care and attention that you would normally give to a THC-rich variety, it is likely best suited for Hemp Biomass that goes to extraction.
Premium Hemp Smokable Flower is CBD rich cannabis flower that is typically grown in smaller quantities with much more care and attention then you would grow hemp biomass.
High grade hemp flower should be grown with organic practices (no toxic pesticides and fungicides), harvested and dried in a climate controlled space to be cured for a set amount of time.
All of these measures will help preserve the terpene content and make for a more enjoyable and smooth smoke.
The Canvast Way
At CANVAST we are proud to offer premium smokable hemp flower that was grown, harvested and cured in a responsible manner.
All flower goes through a quality control processes that gives us the confidence to truly stand behind our buds.
Moreover, this premium hemp flower goes into crafting our pre-rolls, CBD caviar, and cartridges. At the end of the day, quality is at our core.
Check out our Pre-rolls product page here.
Machine Trim vs. Hand Trimmed Flower
Machine trimming is an easy alternative to hand trimming, which is attractive to larger commercial growers concerned with reducing their labor costs.
The flower is placed in specialized rotating bins that shave off excess leaves and shape each bud that is often used to make concentrates or edibles.
Here is an article by Kush.com that goes into greater detail.
Hand Trimmed hemp flower is quite labor intensive. It's flower that has been cut off the stick and carefully manicured with small scissors.
This process is tedious and takes an experienced trimmer to accomplish in a reasonable amount of time.
The Canvast Way
At CANVAST, our hand trimming process goes through a rigorous quality assurance cleaning process where we inspect for any present molds, mildews, hemp seeds, spoiled product, tarnished color from oxidation, and insect damage.
To go a step further in quality and safety for the smokable market, CANVAST offers hand trimmed hemp flower. This process can be expensive and is only recommended for high grade hemp flower as well as organic hemp flower that was grown from high quality hemp varieties.
Check out our hemp flower variety and CBD moon rocks here.
Conclusion
The industry at large stands to learn and grow in their systems and processes. It's important that we are all providing superior quality to our consumers who put trust in this amazing plant that helps to heal them.
