Search results: marijuana

I’m watching what’s happening with Cannabis edibles with much interest.  Sales are booming.  Regulators are stymied.  Regulation is virtually absent—nobody seems to know how—and science, alas, hardly exists.

BakeryandSnacks.com fills the information gap with an Editor’s Spotlight on CBD [cannabidiol]-Infused Snacks, from the business perspective, as always.

•  LISTEN: Nanotechnology opens avenues for high-potency CBD-infused bakery and snacks: Infused By Epic has debuted a novel bioavailable CBD delivery system that can be incorporated into snacks and baked goods. Read more
• Marijuana ‘munchies’ tick up US snack sales: Nielsen has reported there has been a notable pick-up in the consumption of the so-called ‘munchies’ in US states where marijuana is legal, which has boosted the sales of snacks. Read more
•  LISTEN – Snacks with attitude: Should producers jump onto the CBD craze?  The rush to the so-called ‘shining new kid on the block’ – as Marcia Mogelonsky, director of Insight at Mintel Food and Drink terms it – has ignited like a wildfire and everyone is talking about it. But will it make vogue status? Read more
• NatureBox sells out CBD Wellness snack line in first week: According to the online snack brand, thousands of Americans signed up for early access to a limited release pre-sale of its CBD-infused fruit snacks. Read more
• Will CBD-infused snacks help Mondelēz regain traction in its developed markets?  The multinational snack maker is in the early stages of assessing how CBD could fit into its future product portfolio, according to CEO Dirk Van Put. Read more
• SNAAK Bar launches first-ever hemp CBD sports bar on US market:  California-based SNAAK Bar has partnered with CV Sciences Inc. to create two new hemp-enriched nutrition bars designed to optimize sports performance. Read more
• NightFood explores CBD-infused snacks for better sleep:  NightFood Holdings is currently researching cannabidiol’s (CBD) medicinal benefits for sleep, hoping to develop or acquire a line of infused snacks in 2018. Read more
• Growing against regulations: Cannabis edibles industry’s significant profit margins are yet to be seen, Colorado marijuana bakers said:  Experts from the cannabis edibles industry have shattered the popular belief that manufacturers of cannabis-infused bakers are able to make large profit margins due to the growing cannabis market.  Read more
•  It’s all about understanding the consumer and offering the right snack at the right time for the right occasion:  This year, Barcelona in Spain played host to Snackex 2019, the 18th edition of Europe’s only international business event dedicated to the savory snacks sector. Read more

And I’ve collected a few more from other sources.

• ‘The prevalence of questionable products may inspire a tsunami of class action litigation…’ The regulatory path forward for CBD: While not everyone was on the same page about the legal path forward for hemp-derived CBD during Friday’s marathon FDA hearing, multiple speakers made clear that the current situation is untenable, with one predicting a wave of lawsuits, and others demanding that the agency either crack down on companies marketing such products, or explicitly spell out that existing regulatory frameworks can accommodate them… Read
• Insufficient scientific research & labeling constraints could limit use of CBD in food, supplements: When it comes to legally marketing conventional food and dietary supplements with CBD and other cannabis-derived compounds, FDA and industry appear stuck in a catch-22… Watch now
• ‘Virtual knockoff’: Mondeléz Canada warns of growing trend towards marketing edibles by ripping off popular snacks and candies: While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, ripping off a beloved children’s candy brand (SOUR PATCH Kids) in order to sell THC-infused gummies is no laughing matter, says Mondeléz Canada in a trademark infringement lawsuit against edibles brand STONEY PATCH..
• Cannabis sales could hit $41B by 2025, Nielsen predicts:  The research firm found the variety of products has grown significantly in four years — jumping from 166 brands in 2014 to 2,600 last year.And if you are really interested in this topic, and have a spare $1995 lying around, you can buy the Nutrition Business Journal’s Hemp and CBD Guide.

And here’s a free White Paper on Cannabis edibles—a cross-industry analysis.

NutraIngredients.com, one of those informative industry newsletters I subscribe to, has a collection of articles on CBD (cannabidiol, the component of hemp and marijuana that does not make you high but may have some health benefits).

Manufacturers are rushing to produce CBD edibles and supplements, despite concerns about their legal status, as you can see here.

• CBD startup’s mission to become ‘the Unilever of the Cannabis industry’: The founders of a British CBD tea startup are on a mission to become ‘the Unilever of the cannabis Industry’ with truly natural and organic innovations to appeal to the ethos of cannabis consumers… Read
• Germany identified as future pacesetter in buoyant European CBD market: The European cannabidol (CBD) market is set to blossom over the next four years, according to a market intelligence firm, who also predict that Germany’s growth will outpace that of other EU countries… Read
• CBD trade group mounts legal action to challenge possible FSA reclassification: A trade association for the UK’s cannabis industry announces its intentions to sue the country’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) over moves to classify cannabidiol (CBD)-containing products as a ‘novel food.’.. Read
• Hemp world takes steps toward legitimacy, but still has need for growth: The hemp and CBD industry seems to be taking a step toward ‘adulthood,’ based on a visit to a recent expo… Read
• Flood of synthetic cannabinoids threatens to undermine CBD market, experts say: The hemp/CBD industry is being threatened by so-called synthetic cannabinoids that are flooding the market, attendees at a recent botanicals conference were told… Read
• CBD regulation: Global clampdown or treading a careful path to acceptance?  The interest in cannabidiol (CBD) use in food supplements, foods, and even as an ingredient in cosmetics has gained much momentum in the past five years, but what is the regulatory situation around the world?.. Read
• ‘Think of yeast as a factory…’ Microbial fermentation can deliver CBD with consistent purity at a lower cost, says Demetrix: While some natural products brands are only interested in CBD from hemp or marijuana plants, the market for cannabinoids produced via microbial fermentation is potentially huge, as the pesticide-free process delivers higher yields and consistent purity at a “substantially lower cost,” claims one company on a mission to lead this emerging field… Read
• Updated EC ruling for CBD classes supplement ingredient as Novel Food: The European Commission (EC) has reclassified cannabidiol (CBD) as a Novel Food in a change that may mean CBD and hemp-derived food supplements cannot be legally sold within Europe… Read
• Indecision reigns over current CBD Novel Food status as industry groups clash with authorities: Evidence presented at the Novel Food Commission meeting this week has triggered a rethink for authorities over the decision to classify Cannabidiol (CBD) as a novel food (NF)… Read
• CBD frustration: Aussie supplement firms thwarted by rules while pharma advances march on: Pharmaceutical firms are making strides in the Australia’s medical cannabis space, but supplement and nutraceutical firms will have to wait a long time before they can do the same, says an industry expert… Read

And from this and other sources

• Will CBD-infused snacks help Mondelēz regain traction in its developed markets?  The multinational snack maker is in the early stages of assessing how CBD could fit into its future product portfolio, according to CEO Dirk Van Put… Read
• Supplements and beyond: CBD industry on cusp of cannabis revolution.  WATCH.
• CBD entering food and drink at an “astounding pace,” report says.
• Supplements and beyond: CBD industry on cusp of cannabis revolution – WATCH: The European Commission’s decision to classify cannabidiol (CBD)-containing products as a ‘novel food,’ continues to irk those in the sector as the nutrition industry gather once more for Vitafoods… Watch now
• Mexico’s cannabis future? Right now it’s a ‘standby situation’, says expert: The future of cannabis in foods and supplements remains unclear for Mexico following the revocation of guidelines without any next-step plan, but a new regulatory instrument should come soon, says the MD of DPE International Consulting… Read
• Could CBD supplementation help curb heroin cravings?  Cannabidiol (CBD) might have a role in helping to break the cycle of heroin addiction, according to research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York… Read
• FDA’s Cannabis hearing to draw more than 140 speakers.
• ‘The landscape for cannabis in food’  An educational session at this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo on the interest in cannabis-derived products came with a warning from the organizers that exhibitors were not allowed to sell any such products, which shows how controversial a trend it is. A panel of experts attempted to pick their way through the legal minefield… Read

Really?  Cannabis Canada reports that Coca-Cola is seriously considering going into the cannabis business.

Get high on Coke?  No such luck.

The sources said that Coca-Cola (KO.N), the world’s largest beverage company, is interested in developing beverages that are infused with cannabidiol, commonly referred to as CBD, the non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana plants.

Non-psychoactive?  What’s the point?

Oh.  I get it.

Estimates vary, but the consumer CBD market is estimated to grow to US$2.1 billion by 2020, from $202 million in 2015, according to a recent report in the Hemp Business Journal…The company behind such drinks as Diet Coke, Sprite and Minute-Maid juice reported annual revenue of US$35.4 billion in 2017, down 15.5 per cent from the prior year, which has spurred the company to search for growth in international markets and new beverage concepts such as an alcoholic offering that’s only available in Japan.

Cannabis as the solution to Coca-Cola’s loss in sales?

My question: will there be low-sugar options?

While we are on the topic of Cannabis edibles:

California reports that its tests of nearly 11,000 marijuana products found nearly 20%—including cookies, candies, and other edibles—to have higher-than-allowed levels of pesticides, E. coli, and salmonella.

Caveat emptor.

The Los Angeles Times reports that calls to California poison control centers about kids ingesting marijuana “edibles” are increasing.  There have already been about 400 calls this year.

California legalized marijuana in 2016.  Edibles are a big part of the cannabis market.  They are often packaged to look like regular candy, cookies, brownies, and other treats.

• Nearly half of last year’s calls involved children 5 and younger
• 64 were about toddlers who were a year old
• 38 calls were about children under 12 months old

Kids who eat them are brought to emergency rooms, and these visits too are increasing.

I’ve written about kids eating edibles before, in connection with legalization in Colorado.

Of this, Elise McDonough, former editor of High Times, and author of the High Times Cannabis Cookbook, says:

And keep edibles away from pets too.

While we are on this topic, here’s what pediatricians are saying about marijuana use during pregnancy, lactation, and early childhood. While waiting for further research,

Advice from medical professionals should be consistent: pregnant and lactating women should be advised to avoid cannabis use, and women (and men) caring for developing children also should be advised to maintain abstinence.

The increasing legalization of medical and recreational marijuana has many implications for food politics.  I’ve been collecting these items for the past couple of weeks.

• The food editor of High Times, Elise McDonough (@EliseMcD420), announced in a tweet that she would be leaving the post.  Is her job open?  You will need to contact High Times to find out.
• The New York Times reports that pot is becoming Big Ag, as big farms in the Salinas Valley are converting from fruits and vegetables to marijuana.  Call it “the industrialization of commercial cannabis.”
• Expect to see the same trend in Canada.  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation to legalize pot, and soon.
• Grist has done an environmental impact analysis of growing pot; its use of electricity and water are nontrivial, and its production destabilizes ecosystems.
• The New Yorker profiles Laurie Wolf, ‘the Martha Stewart” of pot edibles.
• The New York Times dining section explains how to pair wines with pot varieties.
• Going to college is a risk factor for use of pot products.
• Advertising Age describes the difficulties with marketing the edibles—marketers must first educate the “Budtenders” who sell the products.

Dixie Elixirs, a maker of edibles including its new lines of THC-infused sour cherry, grape and lemon-flavored Fruit Tarts and Blazin’ Cinnamon and Citrus Blast Dixie Gummies, spends anywhere from 50%-75% of its marketing budget on education — particularly education aimed at budtenders, said the company’s CMO Joe Hodas.

I occasionally write about the food politics of marijuana-infused edibles.

Something new every day.

Here’s the latest veterinary problem: stoned dogs.

Dogs get into their owners’ edibles.  Yum.

Veterinarians say they see cases of “canine marijuana poisoning” every day, with a big increase since 2010.

Pets get their own medical marijuana, as needed.  But edibles cause emergency room visits.

This is all so complicated.  You also have to make sure your kids don’t get into the drugs prescribed for your pets.

Lots to worry about.  Have a great week.

Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill says that notwithstanding the Controlled Substances Act, The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, and other laws that govern the cultivation of marijuana, it is now OK for state agriculture departments and universities to grow “industrial” hemp for research purposes.

Industrial hemp, the Farm Bill says, means “the plant Cannabis sativa L…with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”

To put this in context: the average THC potency of domestically grown recreational hemp  (a.k.a. marijuana) is about 6 percent, but can go much higher.

With so little THC in industrial hemp, why would anyone want to bother with it?   Textiles of course, but also medical purposes and dietary supplements.

Even a little THC, apparently, goes a long way.

The New York Times reports that companies are growing industrial hemp to make hemp oil as a treatment for epilepsy.

On the legalities of hemp oil, The Times explains that the

Drug Enforcement Administration is offering few clues, insisting in public statements that while it is willing to allow marijuana sales in states that have legalized the drug, it might step in if growers try to sell beyond state borders…Any chemical that comes from the plant is still a controlled substance…When we get into hemp, it gets a little squishy, but it still is illegal.

Squishy?  Growing and using industrial or recreational hemp is illegal in America except in states that have made hemp legal or quasi-legal.

For example, New York State recently passed a hemp bill that would set up pilot programs for the production of industrial hemp.

At least one company is growing hemp in Colorado for use in dietary supplements.   At a trade show last year, it displayed US Hemp Oil promoted for its content of CBD—cannabidiol, a non-narcotic fraction of the hemp plant.

The company insists that CBD is a legal ingredient of dietary supplements.

Hemp, it argues, is a vegetable:

The pure oil is considered GRAS [generally recognized as safe]. Under the United States Uniform Tariff Code they tax and code hemp as a vegetable. I don’t know anything that’s a vegetable that isn’t GRAS. When we import it, it is always considered a vegetable, so that’s what we use in our declaratory actions…in March of last year Canadian company Abattis announced plans to bring a CBD-infused kombucha drink to market.

However and whether CBD works for medical purposes, everyone expects industrial hemp to be a huge cash crop for its textile and health food uses.

This is especially a boon for Kentucky, and it’s no coincidence that Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell spearheaded the hemp provision through the Farm Bill.

The boon-for-Kentucky Website provides a long list of potential applications for industrial hemp, ranging from textiles to cosmetics to auto parts.

Proponents of CBD provide an even longer list of diseases for which industrial hemp’s CBD is a treatment option.  There isn’t much research on the physiological effects of CBD.  This makes industrial hemp perfect as a dietary supplements.  It might do something.  That’s all you need for supplement marketing.

The legal battles will be fun to watch.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, there is hemp cereal—organic of course.  Enjoy!

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-–Title IV in the Senate and the House farm bills—is the elephant in the room because it takes up roughly 80% of the bill’s total cost to taxpayers.   SNAP benefits cost roughly $80 billion per year for 47.5 million participants.

Yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed its version of the farm bill with no amendments to its draft of  the Title IV Nutrition section.  The committee proposes more than $4 billion in cuts to SNAP over the next 10 years.

Joel Berg, Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger said of the vote:

Unfortunately…[the Senate Ag Committee] passed a bill that values foreign corporate welfare over feeding our children, seniors, and low-income working people. If this version of the Farm Bill becomes law, $4.1 billion in SNAP funding would be cut, and that would mean $90 less a month for 500,000 families already struggling to make ends meet.

For out-of-work American adults and their out-of-luck children, SNAP is a lifeline, the remaining survivor of the once effective safety net.

SNAP is an entitlement, which means that anyone who qualifies is eligible to receive benefits.  That’s how Congress set it up but with budget cuts the only issue of concern, the $80 billion annual cost of SNAP is a sitting duck.

Yes, most of these sound reasonable, although eliminating outreach seems like a really bad idea.  But do they represent the most serious problems with SNAP?

Where is congressional will to meet the needs of the poorest members of our society?  This is about cost-cutting and power politics.  It is not about taking care of the most vulnerable members of society, among them 23 million children.

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the useful parts of this legislation—those focused on improving the health of SNAP participants—and why SNAP benefits are so contentious in this Congress.

In the meantime, the House Ag Committee does its version of the farm bill starting at 10:00 this morning.