Is Holland and Barrett CBD Oil Any Good? A Guide On What To Watch Out For

Holland and Barrett is one of the leading health and wellness retailers in the world and the largest in Europe. They have over 1300 stores in 16 countries, and in the UK they’re the top health and wellbeing store. The fact that such a high-profile retailer is stocking CBD has done a lot for the reputation of CBD in the UK.

Holland and Barrett stock CBD by Jacob Hooy, a well-recognised and reputed Dutch brand, and the range was introduced to stores in the UK in 2018. It’s a popular choice for many as the Holland and Barrett brand has a good reputation and consumers trust them to stock high-quality products. But is Jacob Hooy CBD good quality, and does it offer good value for money?

What CBD Product Ranges Does Holland and Barrett Stock?

Holland and Barrett stock a few different ranges of CBD, but the top-selling, and best-known is Jacob Hooy. So, let’s look at the details and science of the products in this range first, and then have a quick look at a few of the other ranges.

Jacob Hooy

Independent Lab Testing

According to the website, all oils are tested to ensure that THC levels are below 0.2%, but a recent article published in the Daily Mail revealed that the THC content of Jacob Hooy products is four times higher than the legal limit. In addition, earlier this year, the in an episode of “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor”, one of the Jacob Hooy products that claimed to contain 2.75% CBD was tested and was found to contain only 1.7% CBD. Because there are no third-party lab tests available, there is no way to know what’s in the oil, and this should be a red flag for anyone interested in the brand.

Product Labeling

The product labels are a bit unclear about the ingredients in the CBD oil, and the concentration of CBD is low (either 2,75% or 5%). There is no indication if the CBD oil is broad-spectrum, full-spectrum, or whether it contains any other cannabinoids at all. This may mean that you can’t experience the entourage effect if there are no other cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes. Another thing to note is that, according to the label, the CBD is extracted from hemp seed oil, which contains very little in the way of CBD (or any other cannabinoids). So, if this is the source of the CBD, then the quantity of CBD you are consuming is likely to be low, but since the lab reports aren’t available, it’s difficult to know.

Product Strength

This is another area where you need to do your homework. The two strengths offered by Jacob Hooy are lower than most of the other CBD products on the market (with many offering strengths of between 10% and 20%). This means you need to take more drops to feel the benefits of CBD. If you compare a 5% bottle with a 10% concentration from a different product range, you will need to take double the number of drops to have the same effect. So, unless Jacob Hooy is less than half the price of competitors, it’s actually going to be an expensive option.

Efficacy

The low levels of CBD (and lack of transparency in the labelling and lab testing reports), means that you might not experience the benefits of taking CBD, especially compared to other produces with higher concentration.

Reviews

A quick search of Holland and Barrett’s site, as well as a few independent online sites, give Jacob Hooy’s products less than stellar reviews. They’re usually around 3 or 4 stars out of 5, with concerns around the strength of the products cited regularly.

Other Holland and Barrett CBD Ranges

The number of CBD products that the retailer stocks has risen dramatically over the last two years, and has expanded to their in-house CBD line that focuses on skincare and topicals.

Their product range includes:

Holistic Hemp

Stocked on the high street in their physical stores, Holistic Hemp has grown quickly in popularity, specialising in CBD oils and oral sprays. Their TrustPilot ratings are high, and all products are made from organic hemp (and some of their products offer extremely potent CBD doses).

Ambiance CBD

The Ambiance CBD website contains very little information on the sourcing, manufacturing and testing of their products. The range includes lip balms, muscle balms, body oils and moisturisers which all get consistently high ratings on the Holland and Barrett site.

Grounded CBD

Grounded CBD is well-known for their CBD-infused serums which get good reviews on the Holland and Barrett site. Finding their lab reports and sourcing and manufacturing process is difficult, indicating a lack of transparency by the brand.

CBD Daily

CBD Daily focuses on topicals such as serums and creams. There are third-party labs reports available online for each product, which makes it easier to verify the composition of their products.

How Does Purity Hemp Co Measure Up?

Due to a lack of transparency, there are a lot of questions that Jacob Hooy CBD and some of the other Holland and Barrett product lines just don’t answer. In comparison, brands that can demonstrate the use of high-quality ingredients and full traceability will do a lot for their customers’ peace of mind.

It’s for this reason that Purity Hemp Co offers full product traceability from seed to shelf, demonstrating that the product range is the best possible quality. The brand is also committed to the continual improvement of quality of life for customers through the continued education and support that they offer as part of the Purity Hemp Co service.

Traceability

Purity Hemp Co has put the traceability at the heart of the business with full vertical integration, controlling the supply-side process from farming to extraction, purification to product manufacturing, and on-site laboratory testing to bulk CBD distribution. This ensures consistency and the highest levels of quality control across all products.

We are completely transparent about each step of the process, from where the crops are cultivated, to providing certificates of analysis. This is important to us as we want customers to know where their CBD oil comes from, and they have a full understanding of what is contained in the product.

Research and Development

We have put years of research into sourcing and securing CBD from the purest strains of hemp plants so that the products we sell are nothing short of excellent. This, coupled with our advanced extraction methods, means that customers can rely on our CBD to deliver the maximum therapeutic value.

Reviews

Purity Hemp Co continues to receive rave reviews and is consistently rated 5 out of 5 on independent review sites. Clients highlight the effectiveness of the products, their purity, and the trustworthiness of the brand.

Commitment to Excellence

The clue is in our company name. At Purity Hemp Company, we’re at the cutting edge of science and technology, committed to bringing our customers the best quality CBD products. We offer transparency, trust and innovation, delivering a range of the purest products that deliver real health and wellness benefits.

When you look at the Purity Hemp Company products and compare them to some of the brands stocked at Holland and Barrett, it quickly becomes apparent that there are issues with some of their product lines.

Jacob Hooy, in particular, offers very little in the way of traceability and transparency. They have no lab reports available, you don’t have a good idea of what ingredients are included in the products, and there’s even the chance that the amount of THC is over the UK’s legal limit. In comparison, Purity Hemp Company goes out of their way to offer full traceability, and it’s possible to check each of the ingredients in the products.

Independent reviews of Jacob Hooy products are lack-lustre, especially when compared to those of Purity Hemp Company on Trust Pilot.

Product strength and efficacy go hand in hand, and the low concentration of Jacob Hooy products means that customers need to consume much more to experience the same effects as they would with a product that has a higher concentration. This means that the lower price point of Jacob Hooy is misleading as customers need to consume much higher doses compared to other products.

Other brands stocked by Holland and Barrett, such as Holistic Hemp perform much better. An artisanal brand focused on quality sourcing and manufacturing, continues to get good reviews both on the Holland and Barrett sites, as well as on TrustPilot and other independent review platforms.

It’s important that customers know where the products that they consume are coming from, and that what they’re consuming is of the highest quality. Purity Hemp Company’s commitment to offering its customers products that are pure and science-backed makes it a safer, more trusted option.