Creating Production Standards in the CBD Industry with Kate Kinnison of RAD Extracts

You may have noticed the surge of CBD products on shelves near you. Whether it’s at your local pharmacy, drug store, or even coffee shop, CBD is popping up everywhere in lotions, lattes, gummies, and oils. But how healthy is it, and what sort of quality and production standards are being set?

Here to answer our burning questions about this burgeoning industry on today’s Food & Beverage podcast is Kate Kinnison, vice president of sales and owner of RAD Extracts, a Colorado based B2B CBD supplier.

CBD (short for cannabidiol), is most commonly derived from the hemp plant. Hemp has gotten a bad rap because of its cousin, the marijuana plant, known to contain the psychoactive compound THC. But marijuana and hemp share another compound—CBD, which is completely legal and has shown positive health benefits in initial studies.

Kinnison explained how there’s more to CBD than just the compound itself. RAD Extracts looks at the hemp plant’s benefits holistically, utilizing all of hemp’s cannabinoids to create a product with the utmost benefit.

It comes down to, “All of those compounds in that plant working together in a synergistic feature, to really have the maximum benefits for individuals who are using it,” Kinnison said.

CBD is still rather unregulated, with no guarantee of the quality, purity, or efficacy of what’s hitting shelves. RAD Extracts aims to be ahead of the game, exercising the highest quality practices in their production to produce full-spectrum CBD, not a less-potent distillate.

“By creating a premium full spectrum product we really feel like we’re doing the plant justice,” Kinnison said.

So who could benefit from CBD?

"The amount of different applications it has is amazing,” Kinnison said, with some patients reporting it helping with conditions as varied as acute pain, chronic pain, epilepsy, anxiety, Alzheimers, and even acne.

The future of CBD is still unsure, but Kinnison projected that hemp’s popularity will increase as studies continue to come out touting the benefits of CBD.