How to store CBD products correctly
You probably know, finding high-quality CBD can be a challenge and when you’ve finally discovered a product which works for you, how do you store the stuff, so that it retains its potency and doesn’t turn rancid?
Like anything natural we consume, CBD and other cannabinoids are subject to degrading over time. Light, heat and air can breakdown cannabis compounds, and it’s why most CBD hemp oil is placed in a dark and airtight bottle.
Taking the right steps to look after your oil will help maintain the cannabinoid profile along with ensuring it doesn’t taste foul before you reach the end of the bottle!
Let’s take a more in-depth look at how best to preserve your CBD oil.
How should you store your CBD oil?
Tinctures are the most common way to use cannabidiol, where hemp extract is diluted in a carrier oil such as hemp seed oil or MCT coconut oil.
Research suggests that light exposure is the most significant factor in the deterioration of cannabinoids, closely followed by exposure to air.
As a result, keeping your oil in an airtight tincture bottle, stored in a cool and dark place is vital to ensure product stability. It’s the reason why some people choose to refrigerate CBD oil, as it ticks all the right boxes for optimal storage.
That might make you wonder, does CBD oil need to be refrigerated? Not necessarily, but it is the easiest way to store your purchase without looking for somewhere else cool and dark!
If you are looking for other places to keep your CBD a cool cabinet away from light, a dry pantry, the basement or cellar are all ideal locations to store your CBD oil.
What is the shelf life of CBD oil?
Depending on the exact type of CBD oil, you have shelf life can vary. The quality, packaging, and storage of the oil can all alter the period your bottle stays fresh for.
On average, your new bottle of CBD can be kept fresh for between 18-24 months since bottling with the right storage and if it is unopened. Once open, a CBD tincture will maintain its cannabinoid concentration and overall profile for around six months, assuming you keep the bottle stored in an appropriate place.
However, products which are considered raw, i.e. undergo no heating and are minimally processed, can have a shorter shelf life due to natural changes in the oil and in particular the carrier oil.
For example, raw CBD hemp oil is usually a mix of raw full spectrum hemp paste combined with raw hemp seed oil. This product will likely have a shorter shelf life than another CBD oil which has undergone some further processing by way of decarboxylation (heating).
Activating the CBD extract found in the hemp paste through heating turns precursor acids into the compounds we are familiar with such as CBD or THC. This process naturally extends the shelf life and the durability of the CBD cannabis oil.
Why CBD oil gets out of date
You might be asking does CBD oil expire? Yes, CBD oil has an expiry or best before date, which is the date until which the product is expected to remain stable and useable.
After this period the CBD oil may change taste and consistency; and as a result, it’s suggested you don’t use the item after the expiry date as with anything else you would ingest.
To give you visibility of how long our CBD oil will maintain its freshness, Nature & Bloom CBD oil comes with an expiry date. You can find this information listed directly next to or above the batch number located on the bottle.
What happens to CBD oil in a freezer?
The cooler your CBD oil stays, the more likely it will maintain its potency and remain fresh to use for a more extended period. So can you store CBD oil in a freezer?
Yes, if you want to keep your bottle of CBD fresh for the most prolonged period possible, you might consider keeping it in the freezer. However, most people using the supplement find a bottle lasts around a month with average use, in which case it’s unnecessary to freeze your CBD oil.
Also, freezing your oil may cause it to become thick and cloudy, which could make dispensing it a little difficult, at least until it’s left outside the freezer for a short period.
In short, it is possible to store your CBD oil in a freezer, but you might only want to do this should you intend on not using it anytime soon. Could this work well for storing a bottle of emergency CBD? Yes, perhaps that would be its ideal use!
How to tell if hemp oil is rancid
Like anything else you ingest, if the taste or smell has changed, you might want to double-check if your CBD oil has expired.
If your CBD oil smells different, is cloudy and a different viscosity to normal, you should probably throw it away and purchase a new bottle.
You will likely know from looking at and tasting your oil it has expired beyond its use date. It’s also wise to cross-check the expiry date before using a bottle of CBD oil you have had stored away from a while and not used.
How do you store CBD products other than oil?
Tinctures might be the most popular way to use CBD, but the variety of choice available today is far-reaching beyond just CBD drops.
Other products are generally easier to store as they don’t necessarily have a best before date as they aren’t food supplements for ingestion.
On the flipside, concentrates such as CBD Isolate products should be stored in a cool and dark place too even though they are not consumed orally. This is because concentrates are highly potent forms of CBD that are subject to deterioration from exposure to air, light, or heat too.
