Labeling Accuracy of Cannabidiol Extracts Sold Online.
If most online CBD products don't contain what the label says and one in five had detectable THC, how would I verify what is actually in a product before taking it with my other medications?
Suggestive but preliminary. Not settled. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: Funded by the Institute for Research on Cannabinoids, a nonprofit on whose board three of the authors sit (unpaid), and two authors disclose personal fees from numerous cannabis and cannabinoid companies. The result nonetheless cuts against those commercial interests, which weakens the usual direction-of-bias concern.
One cannabidiol product is FDA-approved: Epidiolex (plant-derived purified CBD oral solution), indicated for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, or tuberous sclerosis complex in patients 1 year and older.
Laboratory analysis of 84 CBD products bought online found that 26% contained less CBD than the label claimed and 43% contained more — roughly seven in ten were mislabelled — and delta-9 THC was detected in 21% of samples. Whatever the evidence says about a given CBD dose, a retail product cannot be assumed to contain the dose on the bottle.
Worth asking
If most online CBD products don't contain what the label says and one in five had detectable THC, how would I verify what is actually in a product before taking it with my other medications?
Source
Labeling Accuracy of Cannabidiol Extracts Sold Online. — Bonn-Miller MO, Loflin MJE, Thomas BF, Marcu JP, Hyke T, Vandrey R. (2017)
Top-tier peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.11909
DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.11909
How this was scored
- Study design
- Cross-sectional study / survey
- Funding
- Mixed public and industry funding
- Published in
- Top-tier peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- 84
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- Yes
- Independent of proponent
- No
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 19, 2026.
Where we put this study in context
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
Resolv rates this source "early signal". Suggestive but preliminary. Not settled. It scores 43 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: Funded by the Institute for Research on Cannabinoids, a nonprofit on whose board three of the authors sit (unpaid), and two authors disclose personal fees from numerous cannabis and cannabinoid companies. The result nonetheless cuts against those commercial interests, which weakens the usual direction-of-bias concern. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Labeling Accuracy of Cannabidiol Extracts Sold Online. — Bonn-Miller MO, Loflin MJE, Thomas BF, Marcu JP, Hyke T, Vandrey R. (2017). Published in: Top-tier peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.11909. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Cross-sectional study / survey. Funding: Mixed public and industry funding. The researchers were not independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is cannabidiol, cbd, hemp extract, cbd oil, epidiolex, full-spectrum hemp FDA approved for this use?
No. Its current status is: Not FDA-evaluated for this use. One cannabidiol product is FDA-approved: Epidiolex (plant-derived purified CBD oral solution), indicated for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, or tuberous sclerosis complex in patients 1 year and older.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.