UK CBD ring trial results brings “invaluable” information for harmonizing a booming market
22 Jun 2021 --- The UK’s Government Chemist (LGC), an international life sciences and measurement testing company, has concluded a ring trial assessment of lab performances and methods for measuring CBD and controlled cannabinoid content in commercial products.
On average, 82 percent of participating labs reported “satisfactory” results for CBD, indicating a number of measurement techniques that could form future analysis standards for industry.
The trial marks a coordinated effort to establish effective processes for measuring cannabinoid levels in nutrition, novel food and cosmetics products as they become increasingly available in the UK.
The LGC states that the trial was “very successful,” with 35 laboratories in the UK and abroad signing up to test their measurement methods. Results from 32 data sets were returned, showing agreement between most labs on an “interesting range of methods and instrument types.”
Speaking to NutritionInsight, Dr. Parveen Bhatarah, regulatory and compliance director for UK’s Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), discloses that the testing and sharing of different measurement methods will be “invaluable information” for determining the UK industry’s capability in analyzing CBD products.
The ring trial brings the UK CBD market a step closer to harmonized testing practices.The future of industry testing
A range of technologies was used by participating laboratories to measure CBD and controlled cannabinoids. According to LGC, there was a “good split” between using either mass spectrometry or spectroscopy techniques.
Examples include Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detector or Photodiode Array Detector (LC-DAD/PDA), Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).
“At present, there is no industry global standard and harmonization in the analytical methodology used to test CBD-based consumer products and quantification of controlled cannabinoids. This is needed to ensure legal compliance as per the UK law/the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001,” explains Bhatarah.
“Industry members have been using their in-house bespoke analytical methodology for CBD product testing. Each method varies in its limit of quantification of controlled cannabinoids based on the method and analytical instrumentation used.”
The difficulty of harmonization
Bhatara explains that the main difficulty in testing CBD products lies in sample preparation recovery to generate quantifiable data.
“Most cannabinoids are light, temperature and air-sensitive, which means that if sample preparation is not standardized, then it can lead to inconsistencies in the declared results.”
“Innovation in CBD product categories means analytical methodology has to be fit for purpose,” she outlines.
UK consumers already spend more on CBD products than vitamins B and C combined, according to ACI.Further trials will need to be conducted to bring the trial results forward and utilize them for the UK industry.
“If the data generated so far include which instrumentation has been used and respective limit of detection, then the next step is to propose which of the analytical methodology and instrumentation will be best for routine CBD product testing.”
This will be followed by a controlled trial to validate the proposed methodology for industry, leading to standardization and harmonization of analytical methods, asserts Bhatara.
In turn, CBD product testing and the opportunity to set Pharmacopoeia standards for CBD and exportation technology would result.
Driving UK government policy
The ACI calls on the UK government to review the data generated in the ring trial and analyze their legal compliance toward controlled cannabinoids.
“This represents an opportunity to introduce necessary regulatory reforms for the limits on controlled cannabinoids as well as standardization and harmonization of the analytical testing method for CBD products in the UK. Most importantly defining 0 percent THC in terms of acceptable limit of quantification,” states Bhatara.
“The UK can capitalize on this information by setting in-house regulatory reforms and road maps for the CBD industry. Clarity on the regulations brings investors, and hence a booming CBD industry.”
Despite the surging consumer demand for CBD products, regulatory uncertainty and inconsistency has slowed progress in many parts of the world, creating an opportunity in the UK.
Last year, the European Commission set a preliminary freeze on all applications of hemp extracts and natural cannabinoids under Novel Food regulation, considering them to be drugs. This led the UK industry to eye a lucrative chance to advance its policy toward cannabinoid products post-Brexit.
This year, the ACI valued the UK CBD industry at nearly US$1 billion, making it the second-largest market in the world, after the US.
By Louis Gore-Langton
