Popular CBD Brand Questions Study: 'Misleading To Consumers And Damaging To The Industry'

NextEvo Naturals recently released results from a third-party study on 16 CBD products that were allegedly randomly selected for the research. The brand commissioned Coral Reef Labs to conduct this study and test label claims including the potency of each product. In this study, one of CV Sciences’ (OTCQB: CVSI) products was “randomly” chosen and found to fail the test, reporting that its potency was 9mg of CBD rather than the 10mg claimed on the label.

The company quickly issued a commentary on the study, questioning the veracity of the report.

"There are a variety of issues with this study and the debasing claims against CV Sciences’ products. To start, NextEvo claims to have randomly selected 16 CBD products from the shelves of randomly selected grocery store and supplement store chains in Eastern Pennsylvania, conveniently choosing selections from some of the leading brands on the market, including one from CV Sciences and two from Charlotte’s Web (OTCQX: CWBHF), two of which 'failed' the test while all three NextEvo products 'passed,'" the company said.

What About Certification? 

CV Sciences further called into question the credibility of the new testing laboratory - Coral Reef Labs, claiming it lacks "commonly recognized ISO-17025 certification that enables laboratories to show they operate competently and generate valid, reliable results. Thanks to a lack of standardized regulations across the board, methods in testing can be highly variable between brands, to begin with—the fact that this facility is not fully certified only adds more uncertainty to the “research” that they have produced."

Benzinga reached out to Coral Reef to confirm whether the laboratory possesses ISO-17025 certification, but did not receive a response at the time of the publishing.

CV Sciences also noted that the CBD watchdog Leafreport tested over 3,000 products in 2021 and voted CV Sciences’ +PlusCBD Oil as one of the Top 10 Most Transparent and Accurate Brands in Potency and Purity, giving their products an A rating. According to the CBD company, the other popular brand in the space from Charlotte's Web, CBDDistillery also "did well, scoring an A on two reports and a B on a third one."

CV Sciences’ +PlusCBD products are manufactured at cGMP-certified facilities to ensure manufacturing of products is controlled as per quality standards. Every single lot/batch of +PlusCBD product is tested at experienced independent ISO-17025 laboratories such as Anresco Laboratories, DB Labs and Eurofins laboratories using validated methods to ensure products meet label claims and are free of pesticides, residual solvents, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and any microbial contaminations assuring identity, strength, quality, and purity of our products.

Misleading And Damaging To The CBD Industry

“For NextEvo to weaponize this questionable and untrustworthy information is not only uncalled for from a brand perspective but also misleading to consumers and damaging to the CBD industry as a whole," CV Sciences said. "NextEvo uses this so-called study in their online marketing for products, claiming to have 'passed' where competitors have 'failed.' Bad actors making unsubstantiated claims to boost sales mislead consumers who may not only be seeking out a product for recreation but may be encouraged to use products in lieu of seeking medical help.”

The company concluded: "From an industry perspective, inflammatory and misleading reports and marketing like these only further damage consumer trust in a sector that is already replete with false claims and tenuous scientific evidence."

Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash