A nutrition bar has debuted from California-based SNAAK Bar that includes hemp-sourced cannabidiol (CBD) to optimize sports performance, according to Bakery and Snacks. The bars are only sold at five locations in Southern California— including three retailers, a bicycle shop and a personal training facility — and online at the company’s website.
The new product, SNAAC CBD, comes from a partnership between SNAACK Bar and CV Sciences, Inc., and includes the latter’s PlusCBD Oil from agricultural hemp. CV Sciences said its product is not psychoactive — it doesn’t make a person high — and is recommended for pain management, sleep, stress, inflammation and mood recovery.
The SNAAC CBD bars come in Chocolate Cherry Almond and Lemon Cream Crisp, both of which contain 15 milligrams of CBD oil from two different formulations. A box of eight 1.6-ounce bars sells for $64, or $8 per bar.
Plenty of products featuring either CBD or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive substance in cannabis, are showing up in the food and beverage space these days, but this is the first nutrition sports bar formulated with CBD oil. This could be the start of a new trend since, as Bakery and Snacks reported, the product is “designed to improve athletic and workout performance through advanced phytocannabinoid nutrition.”
The company claims its new SNAAC CBD bar includes 12 superfoods, including raw and unfiltered honey, almonds, coconut oil, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pink Himalayan salt, chia seeds, baobab fruit, mulberries, cacao, and pea protein. Most of those ingredients carry legitimate health claims, so the combination together in one CBD-infused product could appeal to a wide range of consumers, including athletes.
Analysts believe CBD-infused products have a bright future in all types of foods and beverages, although regulations are still a problem. There’s also a chance some consumers don’t know the difference between THC and CBD. CBD offers no euphoric sensation and is available in places that marijuana is prohibited. Ingesting 15 mg of CBD in bar form may present a more stable, reliable dose for those looking for the medical and therapeutic benefits, but don’t want to take too much.
“We think cannabinoids are going to be a new category of functional ingredients, just like probiotics, omega-3s or flavonoids,” Justin Singer, CEO of cannabinoid supplier Stillwater Brands, recently told Food Dive. “I believe that the wellness side of cannabinoids is far larger than the intoxication side,” he added.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is on the lookout for products making unrealistic claims about both CBD and THC, so brands formulating with either cannabis or hemp should be careful about how they market their products. Marijuana-based products have been particularly susceptible. Last year, the agency cracked down on four companies selling marijuana-based supplements that described their products as cancer cures, one of the most problematic — and widespread — unproven claims in the cannabis space.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said last fall that substances containing marijuana components would be treated like any others making unproven claims. “We don’t let companies market products that deliberately prey on sick people with baseless claims that their substances can shrink or cure cancer,” he said in a release.
Source: https://www.fooddive.com/news/will-consumers-buy-a-hemp-infused-nutrition-bar/531354/