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How to Read a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for CBD Products

How to read a certificate of analysis (COA) for CBD Products Hero Image

As a researcher and consumer of CBD, you want to know if you are getting a clean and high-quality product. With so many CBD companies popping up everywhere, it can be challenging to differentiate all of the choices available. Due to so many concerns over misleading CBD content, plant sources, and growing conditions, the CBD market responded with the gold standard of third-party testing – A certificate of analysis or COAs. In this article, we will tell you both the contents of, and how to read a certificate of analysis.

What is a Certificate of Analysis or COA?

COAs are an important way for a consumer of CBD to know they are getting high quality and safe products. Furthermore, learning how to read a COA is vital because you need to be able to decipher all of the information! All CBD products that you intend to consume should have third-party testing available. 

As a remediation crop, hemp can be modified by anything that it comes into contact with. And any of these influences on the hemp crop could have an impact on your CBD. The COA will include traces of potentially dangerous items in your CBD, but some important structural features as well. Some of these items listed include: 

  • Heavy metals, pesticides, fungus, mold, and bacteria. 
  • Cannabinoid potency & profile
  • And overall terpene profile
How to read a COA - find your batch number on a Kentucky's Best Hemp Product photo

Finding a Products Cannabinoid Potency

Potency tells you if the product label is correct. For example, if the company advertises 1,250 milligrams on the label, there should be 1,250 milligrams in the sample tested. Kentucky’s Best Hemp does batch testing and includes a batch number on the physical box. Take the specific batch number and enter it in the search bar with our COA lookup tool.  Potency testing also shows if there are any other cannabinoids and their concentrations. Our full spectrum hemp extract contains many cannabinoids, including CBD, CBDA, CBG, and CBC, among others.

Locating a CBD Product’s Terpene Profile

The terpene profile is a summary of the compounds that give CBD oil their color and unique flavors of the hemp plant. These flavors include cinnamon, citrus, mint, and pine. You will be able to locate the terpene profile within your product’s certificate of analysis.

Find Out About Potential Pesticides & Heavy Metals

The analysis is crucial for certifying the safety of CBD products. Hemp can be treated with a variety of herbicides and fungicides. At Kentucky’s Best Hemp, we understand that pesticides are a part of farming, but you don’t want to consume these harmful substances every day! 

At Kentucky’s Best Hemp, we do a full panel test on our hemp samples to ensure they are free of pesticides and our farmers never use pesticides on our hemp crops. Heavy metals are another indicator of whether or not the hemp in your CBD oil was grown in healthy conditions. Hemp plants can absorb whatever it comes into contact with, heavy metals included. Even in small doses, heavy metals can be detrimental to your health.

More on Where CBD Comes From and Using Our COA Lookup Tool

So if you leave this article knowing anything new, always look for third-party testing on your CBD products and ask for a COA! Check the potency, and pay close attention to heavy metals & pesticides. Also, be sure to pay mind to the overall ingredients and manufacturing date. And, as always, you can look up any of Kentucky’s Best Hemp products and learn how to read a certificate of analysis with our COA lookup tool. For more information on how CBD is made and where CBD comes from, check out our latest blog or explore our online store!
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