Potency Claims
What about potency claims on labels vs results, sometimes they are slightly different? How are potency claims calculated and made?
We have the most accurate testing and label claims by design. ImpelCBD.com products are formulated to be spot on with the label claims using the laboratory results from the most proximate concentrated cannabinoid ingredient and homogenized (mixed) to have even dosing throughout the product. For example, you can get about a half dose from about a half tablet etc. Always be sure to shake any liquid products before using just in case they have separated.
For super math geeks…. We accept up to 15% variance between the final certificate of analysis (COA) and the actual known product formulation potency calculations doing the math using the most proximate concentrated ingredient result and batch weights to calculate the actual label claim. This is the good science approach and is half of the intralab variance allowed by Federal ISO 17025 standards for the testing laboratories themselves.
Why is the calculated label claim the most accurate potency claim vs. just using the last result? In measurement science, you get a more accurate quantification from a pure thing than from a thing mixed with other ingredients called the product matrix. (Count the chocolate chips BEFORE you put them into each cookie to get the best estimate of the number of chocolate chips in any one cookie, not after you bake the cookies!) To test CBD or THC potency “in matrix” the lab must first extract the molecules from the matrix. This is like picking out the chocolate chips from the baked cookies, not the best way to be confident of the chocolate chip count for sure!
Testing a finished matrix introduces profound error tendancy vs. just testing the pure concentrated ingredient before it is mixed with the things that make the quantification so much harder in our testing labs. ie: Measure chocolate chips carefully before you add them to the batter. We have many years of experience with this reality. Thus the label claims on ImpelCBD.com products are based on the batch calculations using the pure ingredient certificates of analysis (COA) and then confirmed with the post production COA. This is literally like counting the chocolate chips first, before adding them to the cookie. Our final test is like doing our best to count the melted chocolate chips in the baked cookie, and we accept a final count as confirmation of the known pre-cooked chip count as long as the final “count” is within 15% of the pre-cooked count.
In short, we rely on and use two separate tests for products with matrix to ensure the most accurate label claim possible given the current state of high pressure liquid chromatography quantification science. The pure product results and the final check results. For pure concentrates like CBD isolate, there is just one test because pure concentrate products are not added to matrix. They are simply weighed and packaged by weight. For everyone’s safety and legal protection we will reject or retest any final product matrix showing more than 0.3% Delta 9 THC in the final formulation regardless of the formulation calculation. We actually do care.