A panel of experts in the field of functional products featuring hemp, its full- and broad-spectrum extracts, and cannabidiol (CBD) summed up the state of cannabis-containing foods, and manufacturing challenges at NYIFT’s Virtual Supplier’s Expo in September.

The insights shed light on issues surrounding formulation, functional applications, consumer mindsets, and what the marketplace may look like in the years ahead.

More Than What’s on the Label
The lion’s share of CBD and hemp extract products on the market today are in conventional dietary supplement formats. However, advances in formulation technology can improve the absorption of CBD while appealing to modern consumer tastes and preferences, potentially carving out greater market share.

No two hemp extracts are exactly the same; so there are countless combinations of food ingredients, cannabinoids, and terpenes diversifying the product landscape.

Keith Woelfel, director of R&D at Caliper Foods, an ingredient manufacturer specializing in a highly-bioavailable CBD isolate powder, explained that the level of standardization and cannabinoid composition of hemp extracts will have implications for efficacy and taste. Changes that hemp undergoes during growth, harvest, processing, and extraction will also affect the formulation.

While isolates are the purest form, and have the advantage of greater shelf life and consistency compared to full- or broad-spectrum hemp extracts, some believe there is an advantage to providing a unique fingerprint of multiple cannabinoids. For example, many have claimed the “entourage effect” from the mix of cannabinoids can impact efficacy.

“The lack of consistency, though, is a major drawback,” said Austin Stevenson, chief innovation officer at Vertosa. “Isolates guarantee a highly specific repeatability and consistency, as they’re over 99% pure. Distillates, on the other hand, do come with a high purity, which these days can reach 80-90% of a single cannabinoid, but contain trace amounts of a few other cannabinoids. You’ll see variability in consistency across certificates of authenticity, including variations in THC content.”

“At this time, full-spectrum and broad spectrum are marketing terms that lack a standard identity, and cover a broad range of chemical attributes,” Woelfel said. “Full spectrum is a full cocktail of unregulated cannabinoids, including CBG, CBN, CBDV, CBC, and more; and while experts are getting better at scaling up other minor cannabinoids, there is still plenty of batch-to-batch variance. The bioactive content in full spectrum products varies extremely; and so it’s crucial to be aware in the early process that you’re dealing with a wide range of cannabinoids to work with or against, that can each provide a different sensory profile, and effect the consistency and shelf life of any product.”

Stevenson spoke out against the practice of “fairy-dusting,” or adding trace amounts of an ingredient for purely marketing purposes.

“Throwing CBD into a batch and just calling it a day is a huge disservice to the innovation landscape,” he said. “It’s very hard to get CBD to cross the blood-brain barrier without formulation. You have to think about delivery systems technology, and know that one delivery system doesn’t work for all product types. Suppliers need to understand the chemistry of the product, and know which accompanying ingredients are red flags for delivery. It’s often not the isolate or distillate, but the vehicle that determines whether a compound crosses the blood-brain barrier.”

Within the technical aspects of formulation with hemp and CBD, taste and flavor are important considerations, said Lindsay Mahon and Heather Farnum, both of whom work with flavor company Fona Solutions.

Cannabis, which contains 500 chemical compounds in variable proportions, tends to have a particularly difficult flavor profile to work with. Terpenes can provide a brew of flavors ranging from piney and earthy, to peppery or citrus. At the same time, bitter, metallic, earthy, and grassy notes of plant matter have the ability to overpower a great deal of ingredients in any formulation.

Flavor tailoring typically involves a combination of physical blocking, masking, and complementing; there is no one-size-fits-all approach to cannabis ingredients. The ingredients themselves contain many primary flavors, as do the functional food vessels through which they’re delivered. Secondary flavors are of utmost importance in most cases. Whether a flavor gets masked or complemented can also depend on the clientele.

“Those new to CBD altogether are likely to be completely opposed to the taste,” Farnum said. “On the other end, if a hemp extract taste is too masked, then seasoned or skeptical consumers might not be convinced that the ingredient they’re looking for is there.”

Marketing
The NYIFT panel also brought to light some recent market research findings, and discussed how to successfully market ingredients that, in spite of their appeal to a broad range of consumers, have yet to be thoroughly researched for efficacy.

Compared to other nutritional ingredients, it appears CBD is largely viewed as a wellness ingredient with less targeted applications. An overwhelming majority (91%) of consumers use CBD for generalized benefits with no medical endpoint, according to Francis Boero, head of the Legalized Cannabis and Hemp Edibles working group for the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).

It could be inferred that cannabis food fanfare is largely fueled by consumers’ desire to experiment; while 63% of consumers feel comfortable using CBD without professional guidance, only 34% of them are confident in the safety of their CBD products. Even fewer (16%) believe the labels of their products accurately reflect the potency, Boero noted.

“Consumers want something for general wellness, but they don’t have the information they need,” he continued. Boero characterized claimed benefits of CBD as “palliative,” specifically for people living with MS (multiple sclerosis), whereas all other health claims are rooted in research that has not yet been completed, is observational, or is anecdotal.

The lack of clinical evidence supporting CBD for health applications also leads to a lack of adequate dosage recommendations for a perceived therapeutic effect. So consumers are in the dark about how much CBD to take. The practice of “fairy dusting” also doesn’t help perceptions of the market, or consumer health.

Depending on the type of formulation—whether it is hemp, hemp oil, or specific extracts—there are a wide range of components that affect the taste and nutritional content. Consumer knowledge about specific hemp-derived nutrients, minor cannabinoids, and terpenes appears to be lacking at the moment, but will likely be more integrated into future conversations and marketing, according to Linda Gilbert, founder and CEO of consumer research company, EcoFocus Worldwide.

Additionally, she projected that confectionery products, which are one of the top edible categories, will have to keep the purity and efficacy of all ingredients, not just hemp extracts, in mind. “Edibles users care about GMOs, artificial ingredients, where all of the ingredients they eat are grown, and more compared to standard confectionery consumers,” she said.

Gilbert predicted confectionery and candy products will be most successful from legacy brands, compared to smaller brands specializing in hemp extracts and not confectionery. She added, “69% of consumers prefer well-known brands over cannabis brands; and generally speaking, they feel that they’re more likely to do their homework and deliver a safe product,” Gilbert said, citing an EcoFocus survey.

As much as consumer insights can help fuel innovation, the murky regulatory status of CBD is serving as a roadblock to even more serious business development. While the number of tentative CBD companies and innovators waiting for a clearer pathway to market can’t exactly be determined, it’s likely to be significant. While the FDA is providing a certain level of discretion and mainly targeting companies making egregious medical claims, the regulatory risks are compelling many companies to hold off on product launches for now.

A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in September would direct the FDA to set a clear regulatory framework for hemp and hemp-derived CBD consumer products. If passed, the “Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020,” could be a market catalyst, sparking innovation and greenlighting further clinical research. 

Additionally, the proposed legislation would clear interstate commerce of CBD products. Already, major beverage players including Ocean Spray (which launched a CBD sparkling water called CarryOn) have launched trial runs of CBD in certain states, but are refraining from sales that cross state lines; smaller competitors do already make their products widely available at their own risk.

Product Safety
Challenges in the realm of quality and safety persist when it comes to CBD ingredients, according to Woelfel. Hemp is known to absorb heavy metal and pesticides, and labs have detected residual solvents left over from the extraction process. Testing for cannabinoids and microbiological profiles is certainly still in its fledgling stages at a commercial level.

“We’re still working with an honors system, and everything must be verified at every point in the supply chain,” Woelfel said.

When it comes to absorption of hemp constituents, beverages have their own unique sets of challenges, with emulsion, extraction, and even packaging technologies making a major difference, said Stevenson.

“We turn oil into water using new emulsion technologies,” he added. “We’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in all types of infused products, including potency test failures, as ingredients were optimized for beverages.”

Cannabinoids, for example, naturally adhere to can liners, meaning that specialized liners are necessary for CBD beverages to have any effect. “In conventional delivery systems, you could see a 50-80% loss in potency over six weeks, but new delivery systems allow for less than a 10% loss in potency over 20 weeks,” Stevenson said.

Hemp’s Solid Macros
While in the nutraceuticals market, hemp is often featured in products for its cannabinoid content, there is much to be appreciated about its more conventional nutritional profile too, according to Martin Mingdu Liu, a PhD student at Cornell University who is conducting analytical chemistry research on hemp seed proteins, hemp bioplastics, and more.

Of the proteins, fats, and fibers found in the hemp seed, Liu described protein as having the greatest competitive potential. “It contains all of the essential amino acids, at levels comparable to casein and soy protein, which are considered to be the gold standards,” Liu said. It’s highly digestible, and not highly allergenic compared to other proteins. Additionally, there are no phytoestrogens, meaning this plant-based protein has one less cause for concern compared to soy products.

Liu’s work on emulsifying hemp proteins has shown that, compared to both soy and pea protein, hemp has a greater shelf life as an emulsifying and foaming agent. “Removing some color and flavor compounds from hemp protein would improve acceptability for a wide range of food products,” Liu said. “Despite some challenge areas, the emulsification and foaming potential of hemp is great.”

Additionally, the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of hemp seed oil is 3:1, which is considered optimal for improving blood levels of essential fatty acids, Liu said.

Entering the Industry
For companies that are relatively new participants in the CBD industry, it’s valuable to understand the overall ecosystem of companies and suppliers. Ben Larson, the CEO of CBD infusion company Vertosa, described some of the issues that any entrant into the hemp arena should be aware of, as well as traits he’s observed that help differentiate brands.

A robust network of companies, supply chain partners, distributors, and labs is still very much under construction, Larson said. Additionally, it’s important to understand that the level to which insurance companies, banks, and even ingredients manufacturers may be hesitant to engage with any type of product containing cannabis, CBD, or hemp is much greater than for many other functional ingredients. Fewer CBD partner companies results in less industry-wide redundancies, which, depending upon the product category in question, can be “onerous,” Larson said.

“Really vet your partners,” Larson said. “Don’t trust anyone that you haven’t known for at least six months. It’s really easy to make a professional-looking website, and there aren’t enough regulations to hold people to their word.”

Further, this industry exists at a time when “most of the rules haven’t been created,” and can “change with the flick of a pen,” Larson continued. “This is an extremely difficult space for a young company,” and all the investors within the market are highly savvy, holding each bidder to high, contemporary industry standards.

For these reasons, he warned against entry into a single functional food category or product type. Having a path of least resistance, and potential liquidity, and being able to quickly respond to demands of both the market and the law are crucial components of any company worth investing in.

Lastly, entrepreneurs and advocates in this marketplace are one and the same, Larson said. “You have to be accountable to questions about whether you’re working for a successful industry or a successful company. It’s important to honor the work that has been done for cannabis in the past, and respect the work that is being done today,” Larson said. “We need our competitors and partners to succeed in this space; this is a rising tide. We need to improve our supply chains, create redundancy, hold each other accountable, and create better retail environments […] There’s also a political aspect behind all of this. This innocuous substance was a Schedule 1 drug, and communities have been historically impacted by the war on drugs.”

The bottom line, Larson said, is that entrants into the CBD marketplace need to be willing to “jump in” to the culture of cannabis, advocate for best practices, and deliver tangible benefits to consumers in order to differentiate themselves from single-ingredient products of limited efficacy, and sustain industry-wide value and legitimacy.